★★★★★ 5
Clear and powerful analysis.
Format: Paperback
The three books in Bowlby's trilogy on Attachment, Separation and Loss need to be read a whole. Using the studies and case histories of children being separated from their mothers and important others, in a wide range of circumstances from separations of only a few minutes, through separations of several weeks on up to prolonged and permanent separation due to divorce and death, Bowlby outlines a new way of understanding neurosis, psychosis and optimal, healthy functioning.
Using the lens of a Darwinian analysis, and the case histories written up by psychoanalysts spanning decades, he compares and contrasts his new theory with that of previous psychological thought, especially the psychoanalytic tradition.
I found his analysis penetrating and illuminating. It sets the stage and formulates the hypotheses for further research. Much of that research has now taken place and has borne out Bowlby's theories. Not all of it, of course.
Because Bowlby's attachment theory became and continues to be such a foundational analysis for so much that has followed in its wake, from evolutionary psychology to child development to psychotherapy, it is a must read for anyone interested in these and related fields.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2012
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