TY - JOUR
T1 - Six attachment discourses: convergence, divergence and relay
AU - Duschinsky, Robbie
AU - Bakkum, Lianne
AU - Mannes, Julia M. M.
AU - Skinner, Guy C. M.
AU - Turner, Melody
AU - Mann, Alissa
AU - Coughlan, Barry
AU - Reijman, Sophie
AU - Foster, Sarah
AU - Beckwith, Helen
N1 - Our study of the history and current situation of attachment research has been supported by an Investigator Award from the Wellcome Trust (2014–2020), Wellcome Trust WT103343MA NIHR School of Primary Care Research 392 and RG945777.
PY - 2021/7/4
Y1 - 2021/7/4
N2 - Attachment concepts are used in diverging ways, which has caused confusion in communication among researchers, among practitioners, and between researchers and practitioners, and hinders their potential for collaboration. In this essay we explore how attachment concepts may vary in meaning across six different domains: popular discourses, developmental science, social psychological science, psychiatric diagnosis, psychotherapy, and child welfare practice. We attempt to typify these forms of attachment discourse by highlighting points of convergence, divergence, and relay between the different domains. Our general conclusions are that diversity in the use of attachment concepts across different domains of application has been largely unrecognised, and that recognition of these differences would reduce confusion, help identify sites where infrastructure needs to be developed to support coordination, and strengthen opportunities for collaboration to mutual benefit. We suggest that academic attachment discourse would benefit from clarification of core terminology, including: “attachment”, “internal working model”, “trauma”, and “dysregulation”.
AB - Attachment concepts are used in diverging ways, which has caused confusion in communication among researchers, among practitioners, and between researchers and practitioners, and hinders their potential for collaboration. In this essay we explore how attachment concepts may vary in meaning across six different domains: popular discourses, developmental science, social psychological science, psychiatric diagnosis, psychotherapy, and child welfare practice. We attempt to typify these forms of attachment discourse by highlighting points of convergence, divergence, and relay between the different domains. Our general conclusions are that diversity in the use of attachment concepts across different domains of application has been largely unrecognised, and that recognition of these differences would reduce confusion, help identify sites where infrastructure needs to be developed to support coordination, and strengthen opportunities for collaboration to mutual benefit. We suggest that academic attachment discourse would benefit from clarification of core terminology, including: “attachment”, “internal working model”, “trauma”, and “dysregulation”.
KW - attachment
KW - child welfare
KW - developmental science
KW - psychotherapy
KW - sociology of science
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106298361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14616734.2021.1918448
DO - 10.1080/14616734.2021.1918448
M3 - Article
SN - 1461-6734
VL - 23
SP - 355
EP - 374
JO - Attachment and Human Development
JF - Attachment and Human Development
IS - 4
ER -