harry harlow & contact comfort
Developmental psychologists in the 1940s - 1950s believed that infants became attached to those who provided them with nourishment - a widely-held theory that ignored the role of physical contact.
Harry Harlow took gave orphaned baby monkeys two artificial ‘mothers’ - one was wire and provided milk, the other was covered in soft cloth but provided no milk.
- when faced with a frightening stimuli, the monkeys clung to the cloth mother even though the wire mother was the one offering nourishment.
Harlow concluded that the stimulation/reassurance from the physical touch of a parent plays a key role in developing healthy physical growth and normal socialisation.
soft cuddly things
weak heartbeats fleeting with
sun-rays still beating upon tin roofs but
its almost-evening sun,
and the terry cloth mothers love while,
wire mother monkeys stick their babies with coat-hanger guns.
i’m standing bare and merciless,
as rheese monkeys and american children become
other without reason & speed.
tachycardia stretches out and little lambs become suicide bombs,
who made the mistake of putting on shoes and schools and
cutting their hair.
wind up coils of anxiety because
ashes,ashes we’re
all c-u-t down.
