The Organization of Attachment Relationships
Maturation, Culture, and Context

This volume, first published in 2000, presents a theory on attachment that broadens its range to ages beyond infancy.

Patricia McKinsey Crittenden (Edited by), Angelika Hartl Claussen (Edited by)

9780521580021, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 April 2000

446 pages, 28 b/w illus. 72 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.76 kg

"... Featuring contributions by developmental attachment researchers worldwide, the book is expansive in its scope as well as its depth, drawing from studies as extensive and far reaching as the different cultures from which they originate... A rich compendium of studies, accompanied by apt analyses that may potentially anticipate the direction of attachment studies, The Organization of Attachment Relationships is a work that is invaluable for its thorough examination of what comprises the foundations of the field, and how our perceptions of culture influence the paradigm of attachment theory..."
--Dr. Jacqueline A. Carleton’s & Emily Ho, European Association for Body Psychotherapy Newsletter

Quality of attachment has been a central variable in developmental research during recent decades. However, even though attachment is relevant to all cultures and humans of all ages, the majority of research has focused on middle class infants in Anglicized cultures. Further, the function of attachment to protect humans from danger has been overlooked in a focus on the advantages of safety and security. This volume, first published in 2000, presents a theory on attachment that broadens its range to ages beyond infancy, to many cultures and to endangered populations, including both psychopathological individuals and those living in threatening contexts. The intent is to provide new theory and methods to better understand human variation in interpersonal and cultural self-protective strategies. The expansion of the attachment classificatory system beyond its roots in infancy and to a broad range of cultures differentiates this volume from other work on attachment.

1. Introduction Patricia McKinsey Crittenden
Part I. Maternal Sensitivity: 2. Parents and toddlers at play: evidence for separate qualitative functioning of the play and attachment system Karin Grossmann and Klaus Grossmann
3. Parent-child synchrony of interaction Graziella Maria Fava Vizzielo, Chistina Ferrero and Marina Musico
4. Maternal sensitivity and attachment in East German and Russian family networks Liselotte Ahnert, Tatyana Meischner and Alfred Schmidt
5. Behavior problems in Swedish four year olds: the importance of maternal sensitivity and social context Gunilla Bohlin and Berit Hagekull
6. Attachment strategies in Egyptian school-aged children Anna von der Lippe and Patricia M. Crittenden
7. Summative chapter: maternal sensitivity Angelika Kartl Claussen and Patricia M. Crittenden
Part II. Context: 8. Attachment in Finnish twins Irma Moilanen, Anne Kunelius, Tiina Tirkonnen, Nathan Szajnberg and Patricia M. Crittenden
9 Characteristics of attachment behavior in institution-reared children Stanislawa Lis
10. Attachment in children adopted from Romanian orphanages: two case studies Kim Chisolm
11. Child development in the context of maternal depression: a view from the intermountain west Douglas M. Teti
12. Relations among mothers' dispositional representations of parenting Patricia M. Crittenden, Claudia Lange, Angelika Claussen and Mary F. Partridge
13. Summative chapter: adaptation to varied environments Patricia McKinsey Crittenden and Angelika Hartl Claussen
Part III. Maturation: 14. Stability and change in infant-mother attachment in the second year of life: relations to parenting quality and varying degrees of daycare experience Hellgard Rauh, Ute Ziegenhain, Bernd Muller and Lex Wijnroks
15. Change and continuity in ambivalent attachment relationships from infancy through adolescence Sydney L. Hans, Victor J. Bernstein and Belinda E. Sims
16. Attachment models peer interaction behavior, and feelings about the self: indications of maladjustment in dismissing preoccupied (Ds/E) adolescents Katherine Black, Lyz Jaeger, Patricia M. Crittenden and Kathleen McCartney
17. Attachment representation in adolescence and adulthood: exploring some intergenerational and intercultural issues Isabel Soares, Elisabeth Fremmer-Bombik, Klaus E. Grossmann and M. Carolina Silva
18. Summative chapters: a dynamic maturational approach to continuity and change in quality of attachment over time Patricia McKinsey Crittenden and Angelika Hartl Claussen
19. A dynamic-maturational exploration of the meaning of security and adaptation: empirical, cultural, and theoretical considerations Patricia McKinsey Crittenden.

Subject Areas: Psychology [JM], Anthropology [JHM], Sociology & anthropology [JH]