The term attachment is used widely when focusing on children’s early relationships. An attachment can be thought of as a unique emotional tie or bond between a child and another person which usually is an adult. Research shows that the quality of these bonds or attachments will shape a child’s ability to form other relationships later on in life. In the 1950’s a theorist John Bowlby identified that children and young people’s mental health and behaviour could be linked to separation from a child’s primary carer. He also identified that young children can show separation anxiety if their primary carer is not there for them.

Such attachment theories have moulded practise within daily childcare and school settings, also within social care