Loneliness in Infancy: Harry Harlow, John Bowlby and Issues of Separation

In this contribution, the authors give an overview of the different studies on the effect of separation and deprivation that drew the attention of many in the 1940s and 1950s. Both Harlow and Bowlby were exposed to and influenced by these different studies on the so called ‘hospitalization’ effect. The work of Bakwin, Goldfarb, Spitz, and others is discussed and attention is drawn to films that were used to support new ideas on the effects of maternal deprivation.

Frank C. P. van der HorstEmail:

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Frank C.P. van der Horst   is a PhD student and Lecturer at the Centre for Child and Family Studies at Leiden University, The Netherlands. The work presented in this special issue is part of his doctoral thesis on the roots of Bowlby’s attachment theory. The defence of this thesis, titled John Bowlby and ethology: a study of cross-fertilization, is scheduled for early 2009. René van der Veer   is Professor of History of Educational Thinking at Leiden University, The Netherlands. His research addresses the work of key educational thinkers such as Gal’perin, Janet, Piaget, Vygotsky, Werner, and Wallon. In a longer study the origin of the idea of the social mind was traced. He is on the Editorial Board of Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Sciences.