Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1943-1991 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 box
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Bowlby, the son of a surgeon, was born on 26 Feb 1907. He read medicine at Cambridge University, where he developed an interest in developmental psychology. On completion of his degree at Cambridge, he studied clinical medicine and psychoanalysis at University College Hospital, London. He began practical work in this field by volunteering at the Maudseley Hospital and the London Child Guidance Clinic.
In 1937 he qualified with the British Psychoanalytical Society to work analytically with adults and in the same year began to train as a child analyst, becoming a member of the Society in 1939. By this time, he had already begun to develop his central idea that the basic cause of mental disorders could be traced to interactions between child and parent. This research was interrupted by the outbreak of war; he joined the Emergency Medical Service and then the Army Medical Corps, serving as a major and then a Lieutenant Colonel, although all the while engaging in the life of the British Psychoanalytical Society where he became Training Secretary of the in 1944. He served in the army until the end of hostilities in 1945.
In the same year he was appointed head of the Children's Department at the Tavistock Clinic in London. Because of his emphasis on the importance of family relations he renamed it the Department for Children and Parents. Whilst undertaking a study of homeless children for the World Health Organization in 1950, Bowlby first coined the term 'maternal deprivation' and argued for the damaging effects of the absence of a mother or mother-figure. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he wrote some of his most famous papers, including 'The Nature of the Child's Tie to this Mother' (1958) and 'Grief and Mourning in Infancy' (1960). He died of a stroke on the Isle of Skye in 1990.
Repository
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers related to Bowlby's work within the British Psychoanalytical Society, particularly training activities, as well as responses to papers presented at the Society, articles about his career and posthumous material.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
The material is arranged into three series:
P25-A - British Psychoanalytical Society
P25-B - Responses to papers by Melanie Klein and John Bowlby
P25-C - Career and posthumous material
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access to our archive collections in our reading room is by appointment only; please email the archivist to arrange your visit. Please note that access to material that is in poor physical condition may be restricted.
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Conditions governing reproduction
Copies of material from our archive collections may be supplied for research and private study in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
The collection catalogue is published online.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Material related to John Bowlby's work within the British Psychoanalytical Society can be found amongst the records of the Society (ref. S).
The Wellcome Library holds personal papers of John Bowlby, including papers relating to his writings, his career and his work with the British Psychoanalytical Society (ref. PP/BOW).
The Department of Manuscripts and University Archives at Cambridge University library holds notes and correspondence related to Bowlby's work on Charles Darwin (ref. Add MS 8884).
Publication note
No known publications based on this material.
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
- Latin
Sources
King, P. and Rayner, E. (1993). John Bowlby (1907-1990). Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 74:1823-828.