Bowlby Revisited. A History of Attachment Theory in the Twentieth Century.

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The attachment theory of the English psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby (1907-1990) significantly influenced both the conceptualization of childhood emotions and family policy regimes in the 20th Century. His report on the mental health of homeless children in Europe for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the fifties established maternal deprivation as a central category of analysis. Bowlby's theory about the emergence and prevention of mental health problems had its biggest impact on parent's guide to education, especially in the Federal Republic of Germany, where deprivation studies are the basis for family policy since the 1970s. His work in psychoanalytic practice is nowadays internationally recognized.This study is an examination of the origins of the attachment theory, its reception and evolution in different national contexts in the second half of the 20th century, with a focus on UK and Germany. For the first time Bowlby's writings about war orphans are re-read as early findings of psychiatry's response to the holocaust. In addition, this project highlights the importance of the attachment theory for post-war family policies in a transnational perspective and exemplifies the role of the human sciences experts in policy advice.