ABSTRACT
Attachment theory, developed by Bowlby (1982), is applicable to human social behavior in response to disaster. Bowlby integrated psychoanalytic concepts of child development with parts of cognitive psychology, ethology, and human information processing. He defined attachment theory as a way of conceptualizing "the propensity of human beings to make strong affectional bonds to particular others, and of explaining the many forms of emotional distress and personality disturbance, including anxiety, anger, depreSSion, and emotional detachment, to which unwilling separation and loss give rise" (Bowlby, 1980, p. 39) . Attachment refers to the affectional bond that forms between a nurturing figure, usually the mother, and child in the course of time and in response to consistent care. Bowlby stated that there is an innate tendency within the human baby to seek and maintain proximity to an attachment figure . This behavior has the function of protecting children from the risk of harm. The repertoire of activity that enables children to contact their mother is called "attachment behavior." It includes certain patterns of behavior, such as crying and calling by the infant, and clinging and following by the young child. Complementary to this, the care given by the mother, especially the readiness to respond to the baby's signals, helps develop a secure attachment which becomes the foundation for future mental health.
