This book offers analysis of both the use and limitations of attachment theory as a basis for decisionmaking and planning in child welfare practice. It explores controversies relating to the increasing presence of attachment disorder diagnoses as part of child welfare assessments and the arguments for and against the use of attachment specific therapies for children in care. It poses some important questions for child welfare students and practitioners, managers, policy-makers and academics across the fields of law, psychology, psychiatry and social work. It calls for a new pedagogy of relational child welfare which while appreciating the various attachment styles which children may exhibit, also understands them in the main as useful observations which can inform but should not determine professional interventions.
This book offers an analysis and summary of the uses, abuses and limitations of attachment theory in contemporary child welfare practice. Analysing the primary science and drawing on the authors original empirical work, the book shows how attachment theory can distort and influence decision-making. It argues that the dominant view of attachment theory may promote a problematic diagnostic mindset, whilst undervaluing the enduring relationships between children and adults. The book concludes that attachment theory can still play an important role in child welfare practice, but the balance of the research agenda needs a radical shift towards a sophisticated understanding of the realities of human experience to inform ethical practice.
This book offers an analysis of the limitations of child attachment theory as the basis for decision-making in child welfare practice, examining controversies and offering a new pedagogy that is responsive to the changing dynamics of contemporary families.
