Editing Attachment theory (section)

===Maternal deprivation===
{{Main|Maternal deprivation}}

The early thinking of the [[Object relations theory|object relations school]] of [[psychoanalysis]], particularly [[Melanie Klein]], influenced Bowlby. However, he profoundly disagreed with the prevalent psychoanalytic belief that infants' responses relate to their internal fantasy life rather than real-life events. As Bowlby formulated his concepts, he was influenced by case studies on disturbed and delinquent children, such as those of [[William Goldfarb]] published in 1943 and 1945.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Review of evidence on effects of deprivation. II: Retrospective and follow-up studies | journal = Bulletin of the World Health Organization | volume = 3 | issue = 3 | pages = 380–95 | date = 1951 | pmid = 20603943 | pmc = 2554009 | quote = With monotonous regularity each put his finger on the child's inability to make relationships as being the central feature from which all other disturbances sprang, and on the history of institutionalization or, as in the case quoted, of the child's being shifted about from one foster-mother to another as being its cause. }}</ref><ref name="Bowlby 44">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bowlby J |year=1944 |title=Forty-four juvenile thieves: Their characters and home life |journal=International Journal of Psychoanalysis |volume=25 |issue=19–52 |pages=107–27}}</ref>

[[File:Prayer Time in the Nursery--Five Points House of Industry.png|right|280px|thumb|alt=Two rows of little boys, about 20 in total, kneel before their beds in the dormitory of a residential nursery. Their eyes are shut and they are in an attitude of prayer. They wear long white night gowns and behind them are their iron-framed beds.|Prayer time in the Five Points House of Industry residential nursery, 1888. The maternal deprivation hypothesis published in 1951 spurred a shift away from the use of residential nurseries in favour of foster homes.<ref name=rut/>]]

Bowlby's contemporary [[René Spitz]] observed separated children's grief, proposing that "[[psychotoxicity|psychotoxic]]" results were brought about by inappropriate experiences of early care.<ref name="spitz1">{{cite journal | vauthors = Spitz RA | title = Hospitalism; an inquiry into the genesis of psychiatric conditions in early childhood | journal = The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child | volume = 1 | pages = 53–74 | year = 1945 | pmid = 21004303 | doi = 10.1080/00797308.1945.11823126 }}</ref><ref name="spitz">{{cite journal | vauthors = Spitz RA |year=1951 |title=The psychogenic diseases in infancy |journal=The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child |volume=6 |pages=255–75 |doi=10.1080/00797308.1952.11822915}}</ref> A strong influence was the work of social worker and psychoanalyst [[James Robertson (psychoanalyst)|James Robertson]] who filmed the effects of separation on children in hospital. He and Bowlby collaborated in making the 1952 documentary film ''A Two-Year Old Goes to the Hospital'' which was instrumental in a campaign to alter hospital restrictions on visits by parents.<ref name="Schwartz">{{cite book |first=Joseph |last=Schwartz |title=Cassandra's Daughter: A History of Psychoanalysis  |url=https://archive.org/details/cassandrasdaught0000schw_l4i4 |publisher=Viking/Allen Lane |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-670-88623-4 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/cassandrasdaught0000schw_l4i4/page/225 225]}}</ref>

In his 1951 monograph for the [[World Health Organization]], [[Maternal deprivation|''Maternal Care and Mental Health'']], Bowlby put forward the hypothesis that "the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment", the lack of which may have significant and irreversible mental health consequences. This was also published as ''Child Care and the Growth of Love'' for public consumption. The central proposition was influential but highly controversial.<ref name="WHO 62">{{cite book |title=Deprivation of Maternal Care: A Reassessment of its Effects |publisher=World Health Organization |year=1962 |series=Public Health Papers |location=Geneva |chapter=Preface |issue=14}}</ref> At the time there was limited empirical data and no comprehensive theory to account for such a conclusion.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Secure Base: Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory | vauthors = Bowlby J |publisher=Routledge |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-415-00640-8 |location=London |page=24}}</ref> Nevertheless, Bowlby's theory sparked considerable interest in the nature of early relationships, giving a strong impetus to, (in the words of Mary Ainsworth), a "great body of research" in an extremely difficult, complex area.<ref name="WHO 62" />

Bowlby's work (and Robertson's films) caused a virtual revolution in a hospital visiting by parents, hospital provision for children's play, educational and social needs, and the use of residential nurseries. Over time, orphanages were abandoned in favour of foster care or family-style homes in most developed countries.<ref name="rut">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2008 |title=Implications of Attachment Theory and Research for Child Care Policies |encyclopedia=Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications |publisher=Guilford Press |location=New York and London |pages=958–74 |isbn=978-1-59385-874-2 | vauthors = Rutter M | veditors=Cassidy J, Shaver PR}}</ref>

Bowlby's work about parental provisions after child birth implicates that maternal deprivation negatively influences the attachment behaviour trajectory of a child's life. If a mother experiences post-partum anxiety, stress, or depression, the attachment they have with their child can be disrupted. It is important for pregnant women to have mental-health support pre and post-partum because mental illness often results in low feelings of attachment to their infant.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Reilly |first1=Nicole |last2=Brake |first2=Elloise |last3=Briggs |first3=Nancy |last4=Austin |first4=Marie-Paule |date=2019-11-01 |title=Trajectories of clinical and parenting outcomes following admission to an inpatient mother-baby unit |journal=BMC Psychiatry |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=336 |doi=10.1186/s12888-019-2331-0 |issn=1471-244X |pmc=6825337 |pmid=31675945 |doi-access=free }}</ref>