This thought-provoking and illuminating guide will be a helpful companion for students and professionals across the fields of psychology, counselling, social work, and health. It explains the key concepts and describes how the main attachment types play out both in childhood and later life, and it identifies some of the intriguing questions being explored by research, such as: 'What part do individuals' attachment histories play in adult relationships?' and 'What scope is there for attachment styles established in infancy to change later in life?' Part I introduces the reader to the key conceptual components of modern attachment theory. Part II then covers the four main attachment patterns (secure, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganised) that have been identified by attachment researchers. Each pattern is explored and examined as it plays out across the life course. The mental health, physical health and relationship issues associated with each pattern are also considered. Part III takes a step back and acknowledges some of the unresolved questions and controversies that continue to stimulate the theory. The second edition features a brand new chapter which considers the application of attachment theory across various settings, including forensic settings, child protection practice, and parenting interventions.

This thought-provoking and illuminating guide will be a helpful companion for students and professionals across the fields of psychology, counselling, social work, and health. It explains the key concepts and describes how the main attachment types play out both in childhood and later life, and it identifies some of the intriguing questions being explored by research, such as: 'What part do individuals' attachment histories play in adult relationships?' and 'What scope is there for attachment styles established in infancy to change later in life?' Part I introduces the reader to the key conceptual components of modern attachment theory. Part II then covers the four main attachment patterns (secure, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganised) that have been identified by attachment researchers. Each pattern is explored and examined as it plays out across the life course. The mental health, physical health and relationship issues associated with each pattern are also considered. Part III takes a step back and acknowledges some of the unresolved questions and controversies that continue to stimulate the theory. The second edition features a brand new chapter which considers the application of attachment theory across various settings, including forensic settings, child protection practice, and parenting interventions.

"Nine central issues relevant to attachment theory and research constitute this volume: Defining attachment and attachment security, Measuring the security of attachment, The nature and functioning of internal working models, Stability and change in attachment security, Influence of early attachment, Culture and attachment, Separation and loss, Attachment-based interventions, and Attachment, systems, and services. This is a time of widening interest in attachment theory, and this book exists alongside others that provide perspective on the field as a whole. The authors of these chapters have synthesized their views into fresh perspectives that, juxtaposed with others addressing the same questions, offer novel and useful insights into the current status of attachment theory and research, and perspective on its future"--

Reflecting the emerging understanding of the significance of attachment in adult life, contributions in this volume cover recent research on the fundamentals of human life, including courtship and marriage; the determinants of resilience and of depression; and the vulnerability of some to suicidal ideation and action. Together, these chapters illuminate the contribution of early and current attachment to psychopathology in adults, the application of research findings to therapeutic interventions, and the physiological substructure of attachment in adults and children. This book will be of value to psychologists, psychotherapists, psychotherapy researchers, and other mental health practitioners working with adult attachment issues.

The Attachment Bond: Affectional Ties across the Lifespan draws together and evaluates the vast body of research on the causes and consequences of attachment security in infants, growing children, and adults. Reviewing and synthesizing the results of five decades of attachment theory and research in the fields of developmental, clinical, and social and personality psychology, Virginia M. Shiller succinctly summarizes the most important findings regarding the significance of early as well as ongoing security in attachment relationships. Conclusions from studies conducted around the globe inform the reader of the impact of relational experiences in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood on the social, emotional, and physical well-being of individuals.

Drawing on the authors’ extensive experience as educators, this book puts forward a new model of social work practice that both supports and protects service users across the lifecourse.

This edited book draws from work that focuses on the act of telling family stories, as well as their content and structure. The process of telling family stories is linked to central aspects of development, including language acquisition, affect regulation, and family interaction patterns. This book extends across traditional developmental psychology, personality theory, and family studies. Drawing broadly on the epigenetic framework for individual development articulated by Erik Erikson, as well as on conceptions of the family life cycle, the editors bring together contemporary examples of psychological research on family stories and their implications for development and change at different points in the life course. The book is divided into sections that focus on family stories at different points in the life cycle, from early childhood and the beginnings of narrative skill, through adolescence, young adulthood, midlife, and then mature adulthood and its intergenerational meaning. During each of these periods of the life cycle, research focusing on individual development within an Eriksonian framework of ego strengths and virtues is highlighted. The dynamic role of family stories is also featured here, with work exploring the links between family process, intergenerational attachment, and storytelling. Sociocultural theories that emphasize how such development is situated in the wider cultural context are also featured in several chapters. This broad lifespan developmental focus serves to integrate the exciting diversity of this work and foster further questions and research in the emerging field of family narrative. The book is intended primarily for researchers and advanced-level students in the fields of developmental and personality psychology, as well as those in family studies and in gerontology. It may also be of interest to those in the helping professions who are concerned with family therapy and family issues, and may--due to its content and illustrative material--have appeal to a wider market of the lay public. The chapters are written in a readily accessible style and the analyses are presented in a fairly non-technical way. Because family stories are charted across the lifespan, it would be a suitable companion book to a more traditional lifespan textbook in certain courses.