This year is the centenary of the birth of John Bowlby, the influential psychologist who developed a model of the relationship between children and their parents - or carers - known as
attachment theory.
According to this theory, infants were genetically designed to have a strong bond with an adult who provided a secure base from which the child could make safe forays, as it were, into the world.
But in different cultures, the bond between parents and children can look very different. Jenni is joined by Richard Bowlby, son of John Bowlby, novelist and critic Joan Smith and Kazuko Behrens, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Texas Tech University.