Abstract
This paper presents therapeutic interventions from an attachment perspective with a thirteen-year-old boy with a history of maltreatment, living in a residential treatment facility. Attachment theory holds that accumulated memories of experiences with caregivers become organized into representational structures called “internal working models.” The guiding principles of the therapy begin with the critical role played by the individual therapist as an attachment figure. The central purposes of the therapy are conceived as promoting the restructuring of the internal working models of others to reflect expectations of trustworthiness and reliability, and models of the self as worthy to receive care. The approach described is contrasted with common approaches to residential treatment that rely on environmental behavioral contingencies, modeled on social learning theory.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainsworth, M.D.S. (1992). A consideration of social referencing in the context of attachment theory and research. In S. Feinman (Ed.), Social referencing and the social construction of reality in infancy (pp. 349–367). New York: Plenum Press.
Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M., Waters, E. & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Beeghly, M. & Cicchetti, D. (1994). Child maltreatment, attachment, and the self-system: Emergence of an internal state lexicon in toddlers at high social risk. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 5–30.
Berlin, I.N. (1997). Attachment theory: Its use in milieu therapy and in psychotherapy with children in residential treatment. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 15(2), 29–37.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss, Vol. II: Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss, Vol. I: Attachment (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books.
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New York: Basic Books.
Bretherton, I., Golby, B., & Cho, E. (1997). Attachment and the transmission of values. In J.E. Gruse & L. Kuczynski (Eds.), Parenting and children' internalization of values (pp. 103–134). New York: John Wiley.
Buchsbaum, H.K. & Emde, R.N. (1990). Play narratives in 36-month-old children: Early moral development and family relationships. In A.J. Solnit, P.B. Neubauer, S. Adams, & A.S. Dowling (Eds.), The psychoanalytic study of the child: Vol. 45. (pp. 129–155). New Haven: Yale University Press.
Crittenden, P.M. (1997). Truth, error, omission, distortion, and deception: The application of attachment theory to the assessment and treatment of psychological disorder. In S.M. Clancey Dollinger & L.F. DiLalla (Eds.), Assessment and intervention: Issues across the life-span (pp. 35–76). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Erickson, M.F., Korfmacher, J., & Egeland, B.R. (1992). Attachments past and present: Implications for therapeutic intervention with mother-infant dyads. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 495–507.
Main, M. (1995). Recent studies in attachment: Overview, with selected implications for clinical work. In S. Goldberg, R. Muir, & J. Kerr (Eds.), Attachment theory: Social, developmental, and clinical perspectives (pp. 407–474). Hillsdale,NJ: Analytic Press.
Main, M. & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth strange situation. In M.T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E.M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 121–160). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Moore, K., Moretti, M.M., & Holland, R. (1998). A new perspective on youth care pro352 grams: Using attachment theory to guide interventions for troubled youth. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 15(3), 1–24.
Ollendick, T.H. (1986). Behavior therapy with children and adolescents. In S.L. Garfield & A.E. Bergin (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (3rd ed.) (pp. 525–564). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Page, T. (1999). The attachment partnership as conceptual base for exploring the impact of child maltreatment. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 16(6), 419–437.
Pearce, J.W. & Pezzot-Pearce, T.D. (1997). Psychotherapy of abused and neglected children. New York: Guilford Press.
Small, R., Kennedy, K., & Bender, B. (1991). Critical issues for practice in residential treatment: The view from within. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61(3), 327–338.
Sroufe, L.A. & Fleeson, J. (1986). Attachment and the construction of relationships. In W. Hartup & Z. Rubin (Eds.), Relationships and development (pp. 51–71). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Stewart, R.B. & Marvin, R.S. (1984). Sibling relations: The role of conceptual perspective-taking in the ontogeny of sibling caregiving. Child Development, 55, 1322–1332.
Weinfeld, N., Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., & Carlson, E. A. (1999). The nature of individual differences in infant-caregiver attachment. In J. Cassidy and P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 68–88). New York: Guilford.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cunningham, P., Page, T.F. A Case Study of a Maltreated Thirteen-Year-Old Boy: Using Attachment Theory to Inform Treatment in a Residential Program. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 18, 335–352 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012503306793
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012503306793