The Anatomy Of Attachment

In the beginning…childhood attachment styles set the stage for the development of long-term relationship patterns.

- Lotus Josiah Seng

Part 1

Attachment is a biological driving force that is as important as the sucking reflex in newborns. Today, about 70 percent of the population is securely attached, and 30 percent is insecurly attached, and these percentages reflect transcultural studies. When we consider the compelling laws of nature, the bottom line is that parents are either loving or abusive.

The first researcher to distinguish between safe and unsafe attachment was John Bowlby (1969), and his evolutionary theory of attachment, which is supported by a large body of neurobiological research, suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others to help them survive. Attachment experiences also are the basis for later psychic functioning. These experiences lead to the creation of “inner work models” that the child uses to anticipate and come into contact with the outside world. The inner work models or mental representations determine how the “self” is perceived in relation to others. Is it self-competent and abstaining? Are others available and safe—or not?

The primary care environment is therefore crucial for the development of social-emotional functioning and the centrally important ability to regulate emotions. Without the stimulation of a safely experienced other, the development of a child’s brain functions and structures stagnates in the area of affect regulation, as well as in observation and memory.