Disorganized Attachment and Caregiving

In this volume, leading authorities provide a state-of-the-art examination of disorganized attachment: what it is, how it can be identified, and its links to behavioral problems and psychological difficulties in childhood and beyond. The editors offer a fresh perspective on disorganized attachment, not as a characteristic of the infant or child but as the product of a dysregulated and disorganized parent-child relationship. They present cutting-edge research and exemplary treatment approaches. With attention to the subjective experiences of both mothers and children, the book shows how focusing on the caregiving system can advance research and clinical practice.

List of contents

I. Core Questions: Etiology, Continuity, and Developmental Transformation 1. The Disorganized Attachment-Caregiving System: Dysregulation of Adaptive Processes at Multiple Levels, Judith Solomon and Carol George 2. Disorganization of Maternal Caregiving across Two Generations: The Origins of Caregiving Helplessness, Judith Solomon and Carol George
3. Understanding Disorganized Attachment at Preschool and School Age: Examining Divergent Pathways of Disorganized and Controlling Children, Ellen Moss, Jean-François Bureau, Diane St-Laurent, and George M. Tarabulsy
4. Continuity and Change in Unresolved Classifications of Adult Attachment Interviews with Low-Income Mothers, Susan Spieker, Elizabeth M. Nelson, Michelle DeKlyen, Sandra N. Jolley, and Lisa Mennet 5. Genetic and Environmental Determinants of Attachment Disorganization, Gottfried SpanglerII. New Directions 6. Caregiving Helplessness: The Development of a Screening Measure for Disorganized Maternal Caregiving, Carol George and Judith Solomon 7. Pathways from Disorganized Attachment to Later Social-Emotional Problems: The Role of Gender and Parent-Child Interaction Patterns, Nancy L. Hazen, Deborah Jacobvitz, Kristina N. Higgins, Sydnye Allen, and Mi Kyoung Jin
8. Disorganized Attachment Behavior Observed in Adolescence: Validation in Relation to Adult Attachment Interview Classifications at Age 25, Katherine H. Hennighausen, Jean-François Bureau, Daryn H. David, Bjarne M. Holmes, and Karlen Lyons-Ruth
9. Maternal Solicitousness and Attachment Disorganization among Toddlers with a Congenital Anomaly, Douglas Barnett, Melissa Kaplan-Estrin, Julie Braciszewski, Lesley Hetterscheidt, Jaclyn Issner, and Christine M. ButlerIII. Clinical Applications 10. Viewing Young Foster Children's Responses to Visits through the Lens of Maternal Containment: Implications for Attachment Disorganization, Teresa Ostler and Wendy Haight 11. An Exploratory Investigation of the Relationships among Representational Security, Disorganization, and Behavior Ratings in Maltreated Children, Linda Webster and Rachelle Kisst Hackett 12. The Circle of Security Intervention: Using the Therapeutic Relationship to Ameliorate Attachment Security in Disorganized Dyads, Caroline A. Zanetti, Bert Powell, Glen Cooper, and Kent Hoffman 13. Attachment Disorganization in Borderline Personality Disorder and Anxiety Disorder, Anna Buchheim and Carol George 14. Attachment Disorganization and the Clinical Dialogue: Theme and Variations, Giovanni Liotti

About the author

Judith Solomon, PhD, is Director of Training for the Child FIRST Program at Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She is internationally recognized for her pioneering research in attachment and caregiving, including (with Mary Main) the discovery and delineation of the disorganized attachment classification group and the first longitudinal study of infants in separated and divorced families. With Carol George, she developed key representational measures of caregiving and child attachment, including the Caregiving Interview and the Attachment Doll Play Projective Assessment. In addition to her research and theoretical contributions, Dr. Solomon is also a practicing clinical psychologist, providing consultation, supervision, and training in attachment-based assessment and intervention for infants and young children. Carol George, PhD, is Lee Mirmow Professor of Psychology at Mills College in Oakland, California. The author of numerous research articles and book chapters on adult and child attachment and caregiving, Dr. George has been at the forefront of developing attachment assessments for children and adults, including the Attachment Doll Play Projective Assessment, the Caregiving Interview, the Adult Attachment Interview, and the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System. She teaches courses in development and attachment, codirects a master’s degree program in infant mental health, and trains and consults on the application of attachment assessment in research and clinical settings.

Summary

In this volume, leading authorities provide a state-of-the-art examination of disorganized attachment: what it is, how it can be identified, and its links to behavioral problems and psychological difficulties in childhood and beyond. The editors offer a fresh perspective on disorganized attachment, not as a characteristic of the infant or child but as the product of a dysregulated and disorganized parent–child relationship. They present cutting-edge research and exemplary treatment approaches. With attention to the subjective experiences of both mothers and children, the book shows how focusing on the caregiving system can advance research and clinical practice.

Additional text

"This is an exciting follow-up to the editors' influential prior volume on attachment disorganization, which was published when the concept was relatively new. Disorganized attachment has been researched broadly in the intervening years. This volume summarizes important current findings and takes a significant next step toward defining the disorganized caregiving system. It features chapters from many of the leading researchers in the field."/m-/Mary Dozier, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Delaware "This compelling book demonstrates the power of the disorganized attachment construct for giving meaning to behavioral and interactional patterns that may appear random, bizarre, or inconsequential. The volume combines conceptual elegance, research rigor, and clinical sensitivity. It elucidates the complex interplay of factors that shape the intergenerational transmission of disorganized patterns of attachment and caregiving. The thoughtful use of clinical material serves to substantiate and clarify the theoretical premises. This is a major contribution that will facilitate dialogue among theorists, researchers, and clinicians."--Alicia F. Lieberman, PhD, Irving B. Harris Endowed Chair in Infant Mental Health and Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco "Disorganized attachment is of greatest relevance to clinicians, as it provides the primary link connecting early history with later mental disorder. This definitive volume presents the most recent advances in this area, with careful attention to both the mechanisms and clinical implications of disorganization. It is an invaluable contribution to every researcher's and clinician's library."--Peter Fonagy, OBE, FMedSci, FBA, FAcSS, Head, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, United Kingdom; Chief Executive, Anna Freud Centre-Theory and the practical application of research findings are firmly linked throughout the book....For researchers and counsellors generally, this is an essential read. Those working in the field of adoption and fostering will find it a valuable contribution to their work, both in developing and updating their understanding of disorganized attachment and in knowing how to apply this new knowledge in a practical way.--Therapy Today, 3/27/2011ƒƒRecommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.--Choice, 4/3/2012

Product details

• Assisted by: Sydnye Allen (Editor), Douglas Barnett (Editor), Julie Braciszewski (Editor), Carol George (Editor), Carol (Department of Psychology George (Editor), Carol C. George (Editor), Judith Solomon (Editor), Judith (Director of Training Solomon (Editor)
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 13.05.2011
• EAN: 9781609181284
• ISBN: 978-1-60918-128-4
• No. of pages: 427
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 42 mm
• Weight: 720 g
• Illustrations: Farb., s/w. Abb.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Psychology > Applied psychology; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > Non-clinical medicine; Non-fiction book > Psychology, esoterics, spirituality, anthroposophy > Applied psychology