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Something very cool & insightful is the evolutionary perspective on the rise of addiction in human beings. The evolutionary perspective includes this really interesting hypothesis which states that plants evolved alongside humans to develop into drugs, which I explore here. By targeting our neurotransmitters & becoming pleasing to humans, plants positioned themselves as allies to human beings, & ensured their survival, propagation, protection, & cultivation.

Learning this gave me a whole new respect for plants and the natural world.

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#drugs #evolution #evolutionary perspective #plant evolution #addiction #addiction crisis #substance use disorders #mental health awareness #therapy #plants #nature #trans #trans clinician #trans therapist

Evolutionary Perspective in Sociology

This topic has a significance in studying society. One may look the situation according to one’s own point of view. Same is the case with Sociology.

In order to study anything, one must begin by making some assumptions about the nature of what is studied. For example; the ancient Greeks believed that the universe was according to the whims of the gods. In contrast all scientists assume that the…

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A SUMMARY OF BOWLBY'S THEORY.

Attachment is adaptive and innate: infants are born with a drive to become attached.

They elicit caregiving through innate social releasers; adults respond to social releasers.

Bonds are formed with adults who respond most sensitively.

This must occur during a critical period of development.

Infants form one special relationship - Bowlby referred to this as monotropy.

This leads to an internal working model (a schema) and the continuity hypothesis (evidence from Sroufe et al. 1999 and Hazan and Shaver 1987).

There are also flaws with the theory. For example, it does not explain why some children are able to cope with poor attachment experiences while others suffer long-term consequences.

One final point we should note is that the evolutionary argument is a post hoc (after the fact) assumption rather than proven fact. In other words, we are making the judgement by looking backwards and arguing that a specific behaviour must be adaptive because it persists. We cannot know this is true, but are assuming it is likely. It could be that the value of the behaviour is simply neutral rather than positive.

Despite the criticisms, Bowlby's theory continues to:

be the major theory of attachment

generate a great deal of research (an important positive feature of any theory)

have an enormous impact on the emotional care of young children.

#attachment #unit one #evolutionary perspective #bowlby #critical period #monotropy #continuity hypothesis #sroufe et al.#hazan and shaver

EVALUATION OF BOWLBY'S THEORY; CRITICAL OR SENSITIVE PERIOD?

More recent research has led to a modification of Bowlby's notion of a critical period in the development of attachments. Studies of infants (e.g. Rutter et al. 1998) abandoned or orphaned and raised in institutions in Eastern Europe prior to adoption by families in the US or UK have shown that these adoptees where able to form attachment relationships after the first year of life and also made notable developmental progress following adoption. However, the later these children were adopted the slower their progress. This tells us that although it may take them longer, children who fail to form attachments during the so-called critical period are nonetheless still able to form them outside this period. This evidence, then, is consistent with the notion of a sensitive period (during which children find it easier to form attachments) rather than a critical period for the development of the first attachment relationship.

#attachment #unit one #bowlby #critical period #evolutionary perspective #rutter et al.#sensitive period

EVALUATION OF BOWLBY'S THEORY; THE CONTINUITY HYPOTHESIS.

The Minnesota longitudinal study by Sroufe et al. (1999) has followed a cohort of children from the age of twelve months to adolescence. The children were rated throughout their childhood by teachers, trained observers and camp cousellors at special events arranged for the children. Those children who were rated as being securely attached in infancy were also subsequently rated as being more popular, having more initiative, and being higher in social competence, self-confidence, and self-esteem. In other words, social competence was associated with early attachment style, supporting Bowlby's views of continuity from infancy to adulthood in terms of social development.

McCarthy (1999) also used attachment data from infancy. A group of women were contacted who had been assessed in infancy as insecurely attached. The study recorded their attitudes and experiences of friendships and romantic relationships. Women previously classified as 'avoidant-insecure' were more likely to have romantic problems and those classified as 'resistant-insecure' were more likely to have problems in friendships.

Even though there are positive correlations between early experiences and later social experiences, you may remember that there is an alternative explanation of the internal working model - namely that some infants may simply be better than others at forming relationships. This is known as the temperament hypothesis. Children who are appealing to their parents are also likely to be appealing to other people and this could explain continuity.

A second study that investigated the continuity hypothesis perhaps offers some better support for it because it involved individual's attitudes. Hazan and Shaver (1987) published a 'love quiz' in an American newspaper, collecting information from people about (a) their early attachment experiences, and (b) their current romantic attitudes and experiences. They found that individuals who were securely attached as infants tended to have happy and lasting love relationships and to believe that love was enduring and about mutual trust. By contrast, insecure types found relationships less easy, were more likely to be divorced and felt that true love was rare. This supports Bowlby's concept of an internal working model because it assesses attitudes generated from an internal working model.

#attachment #unit one #evolutionary perspective #bowlby #continuity hypothesis #sroufe et al.#mccarthy #temperament hypothesis #hazan and shaver #internal working model

THE CONTINUITY HYPOTHESIS.

The argument behind the continuity hypothesis is that the relationship with one special attachment figure (monotropy) provides an infant with an internal working model of relationships. Secure children develop a positive working model of themselves, based on their feelings of security derived from having one sensitive, emotionally responsive and supportive primary caregiver (known as the caregiver sensitivity hypothesis). In contrast, avoidant children are assumed to have a primary caregiver who is rejecting, resulting n their having a working model of themselves as unacceptable and unworthy. Ambivalent children have a primary caregiver who is inconsistent and, consequently, the children tend to have a negative self-image and exaggerate their emotional responses as a way to obtain attention. This continuity hypothesis provides one possible explanation of the fact that early patterns of attachment are related to later child characteristics.

#attachment #unit one #bowlby #continuity hypothesis #evolutionary perspective #caregiver sensitivity hypothesis #monotropy

A CRITICAL PERIOD.

The concept of a critical period is a feature of biological characteristics. If development does not take place during a set developmental period, then it may not take place at all. For instance, during the development of the human embryo, the arms begin to develop between Day 24 and Day 26. Any interference with development at this critical stage will permanently affect the development of the arms. If attachment is innate and therefore biological, we would expect these to be a critical period for its development. Bowlby suggested that if a child does not form an attachment before the age of two and a half years, then it would not be possible thereafter.

#unit one #bowlby #attachment #critical period #evolutionary perspective

INNATE PROGRAMMING.

Bowlby (1969) suggested that attachment could be understood within the framework of evolutionary principles, that all psychological and physical characteristics are naturally selected. A characteristic is selected because it helps those individuals who possess that characteristic to survive and reproduce. It is important to realise that this notion of selection is a passive one - no one is doing the selecting - it is selective pressure. The essential principle is that any inherited behaviour that increases an individual's chances of survival and reproduction will be passed on to the next generation and thus continues to reappear in subsequent generations. It has been selected because of its usefulness.

The result is that infants are born 'programmed' to become attached and adults are also 'programmed' to form this kind of relationship with their infants. Social releasers are necessary to ensure an interaction takes place. These are social behaviours that elicit a caregiving reaction from another, such as smiling, crying, cooing and simply looking appealing. Bowlby suggested that these behaviours are innate in infants (and other non-human animals), and that the responses are innate in caregivers. They are critical in the process of forming attachments.

#attachment #unit one #bowlby #innate programming #evolutionary perspective