Disorganized Attachment in Young Children: Manifestations, Etiology, and Implications for Child Custody

Abstract

Disorganized attachment is a troubling relationship in which an infant or young child demonstrates extreme conflict, contradictory and disorganized behavior as they seek caretaking from a parent. When properly assessed and identified, behaviors associated with disorganized attachment suggest the presence of serious threats to healthy psychological development of the child, and serious shortcomings in the parent's ability to provide well-attuned and empathic caretaking and for the child's safety. Given the population and circumstances of families referred for child custody evaluations, we posit that there is a strong risk for disorganized attachment in these families, and that evaluators should understand better how to evaluate whether such a dynamic exists. Such understanding provides essential data in formulating constructive recommendations for the court that are based on a child's needs and a parent's caretaking capacity. The authors outline what makes disorganized attachment unique, discuss how the phenomenon can manifest in the context of conflicted divorce, and offer suggestions for how to assess disorganized attachment within the evaluation process.