Bowlby’s work was very influential in a number of areas, not just in changing the way people approached psychology. His theories and hypotheses have had real-life applications... just two of those include;
- changes in institutional care provided for infants and children (e.g. care homes – in the past, the focus of care homes was to ensure that all the children were well fed, well washed and well clothed, but nobody looked at their interaction with the nursing staff – Bowlby used his theories and observations to show that mental wellbeing was of equal importance, and so now the focus of care homes includes this interaction)
- hospital changes regarding visiting hours (in the past, it was believed that if children who were in hospitals in the long-term were visited by their parents for long periods of time, they would become upset, and so parents were discouraged from visiting, but in fact Bowlby’s work shows the importance of the attachments and so now parent’s are encouraged to spend as much time as possible with their children in hospital)
Bowlby, J. (1944). Forty-Four Juvenile Thieves: Their Characters and Home-Life. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis. 25, 19-53.