Abstract
ABSTRACT 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”.
Highlights
The occasion for this target article and special issue is the publication of Cornerstones of Attachment Research (Duschinsky, 2020) by Oxford University Press
Our studies have suggested that developmental attachment research has been rather sealed off from popular and psychiatric attachment discourses, oriented much more by the internal demands of academic life
Ainsworth and the generation following her withdrew from exogenous engagement, except to an extent with psychotherapists, contributing to the fragmentation of the meanings of attachment discourse across groups ostensibly using the same ideas
Summary
The occasion for this target article and special issue is the publication of Cornerstones of Attachment Research (Duschinsky, 2020) by Oxford University Press. We apply the four questions above to consider points of convergence, divergence and relay between six domains: popular discourses, developmental science, social psychological science, psy chiatric diagnosis, psychotherapy, and child welfare practice.
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