Open Access paper from the JCPP
Abstract – Part of the appeal of attachment language is that it feels near to our everyday experience, as terms like ‘attachment’, ‘security’ or ‘disorganisation’ feel readily recognisable. Yet, not one of these terms is used by academic attachment researchers in line with ordinary language. This has hindered the evidence-based use of attachment in practice, the feedback loop from practice to research and the dialogue between attachment researchers in developmental psychology and in social psychology. This paper pinpoints the difficulties arising from the existence of multiple versions of ‘attachment theory’ that use exactly the same terms, held by communities that assume that they are referring to the same thing and with little infrastructure to help them discover otherwise.
Authors; Marije L. Verhage, Anne Tharner, Robbie Duschinsky, Guy Bosmans, Pasco Fearon
First published: 02 August 2022
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