I have decided to do my paper on John Bowlby's Attachment theory because I find it to be fascinating and enjoyed learning about how this theory presents an organized set of principles for understanding various components of the human psyche. Bowlby's theory also offers a comprehensive theoretical model for better understanding the diversity amongst relationships, and dismisses the old theories which suggest that attachment is simply an internal drive to satisfy personal needs. After thoroughly explaining the Attachment theory I will be introducing its presence in two separate films, Harry Potter and Good Will Hunting. I will illustrate how the three main characters in Harry Potter experience different attachment styles -secure, anxious-ambivalent and avoidant- based upon their differing childhoods. In concurrence with the examples given from Harry Potter, I will show how the Attachment theory coincides with the main characters inability to form or maintain steady relationships in Good Will Hunting. .
The original basis for the Attachment theory was based on observational experimentation with animals. A series of experiments involving infant monkeys indicated that attachment is not solely based on internal needs such as hunger, as several young monkeys were separated from their mother's shortly after birth and kept in a cage with two different dolls. The first doll solely consisted of foam rubber and cloth whereas the second was made of wire mesh yet had a feeding bottle attached to its chest. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the monkeys preferred the doll with food or the one who was soft and comforting. Surprisingly enough, the infant monkeys would cling to the soft-clothed doll despite the other doll's ability to provide them with food. Rejecting the old theory of dependency which claimed that the only reason a child develops a close tie to his mother is because she feeds him, Bowlby utilized these particular studies when perusing his experimentations and hypothesis on human behavior (1988).