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Disorganized attachment in infancy: a review of the phenomenon and its implications for clinicians and policy-makers

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Granqvist, P 
Sroufe, LA 
Dozier, M 
Hesse, E 
Duschinsky, RN 

Abstract

Disorganized/Disoriented (D) attachment has seen widespread interest from policy makers, practitioners, and clinicians in recent years. However, some of this interest seems to have been based on some false assumptions that (1) attachment measures can be used as definitive assessments of the individual in forensic/child protection settings and that disorganized attachment (2) reliably indicates child maltreatment, (3) is a strong predictor of pathology, and (4) represents a fixed or static “trait” of the child, impervious to development or help. This paper summarizes the evidence showing that these four assumptions are false and misleading. The paper reviews what is known about disorganized infant attachment and clarifies the implications of the classification for clinical and welfare practice with children. In particular, the difference between disorganized attachment and attachment disorder is examined, and a strong case is made for the value of attachment theory for supportive work with families and for the development and evaluation of evidence-based caregiving interventions.

Description

Keywords

disorganized attachment, infancy, attachment-based interventions, maltreatment, attachment disorder

Journal Title

Attachment and Human Development

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1461-6734
1469-2988

Volume Title

Publisher

Taylor & Francis
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (103343/Z/13/A)
This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust: [Grant Number WT103343MA] and the writing of this paper was also facilitated by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation (Grant Number 51897) to Pehr Granqvist.