Attachment theory: An analysis of Karen Kingsbury’s novels Where Yesterday Lives and Like Dandelion Dust

Abstract

“Psychology” according to Clifford T. Morgan, is “the science of human and animal behaviour”. It also includes the application of science to human problems. Psychology is set apart from the other behavioural sciences such as sociology, political science etc because of its “exclusive interest in behaviour, partly its focus on individuals, and partly the wide range of behaviour it covers” (Morgan 1). The behavioural perspective aims at understanding people"s responses to particular situations and hopes to uncover “the unique events of each individual"s life” (Morgan 41).

Attachment theory founded by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth in the early 1960s focussed on children and caregivers. It also owes itself to the experiences of child care professionals during World War II. Many children were orphaned and temporarily separated from their parents and so they had to be cared for. The United Nations asked Bowlby to write a pamphlet about the plight of such children and later the Attachment Theory came into being.