Attachment Models in Incarcerated Sex Offenders: A Preliminary Italian Study Using the Adult Attachment Interview

Grattagliano, Ignazio; Cassibba, Rosalinda; Costantini, Alessandro; Laquale, Michele Giovanni; Latrofa, Andrea; Papagna, Sonia; Sette, Giovanna; Taurino, Alessandro; Terlizzi, María Sol

doi:10.1111/1556-4029.12652

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…A preoccupied SoM is mostly described as the typical attachment pattern underlying stalkers' behaviors and motivation, but the great majority of these studies refer to general or student populations, whereas our study focused on detained subjects with specific emotional mechanisms, features, and needs. In fact, our results confirm the findings of Levinson and Fonagy (2004), who asserted that prisoners, especially psychiatric ones, are mainly labeled Ds in their attachment patterns; our findings are also in agreement with the results of Grattagliano et al (2015), even if their sample of sex offenders was not entirely comparable with our stalking sample. Another explanation of this finding may be found because very few studies have administered the AAI to a sample of people selected for having committed stalking crimes, whereas other self-report instruments have assessed actual adult relationships, so the results are not clearly and linearly comparable.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

States of Mind With Respect to Adult Attachment and Reflective Functioning in a Sample of Men Detained for Stalking: Evaluation and Clinical Implications

Civilotti

Sciascia

Zaccagnino³

et al. 2020

SAGE Open

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The efficacy of treatment for stalkers might depend on identifying peculiarities in the life stories of members of this population and their specific needs. We interviewed 14 Italian male stalkers between 27 and 78 years old ( M = 44.5 years) detained in two northwest Italian correctional facilities. We aimed to investigate two main aspects: First, we evaluated the subjects’ states of mind (SoMs) with respect to early attachment using the Adult Attachment Interview. Second, we assessed the possible recurrence of narrative clusters between the narratives of these offenders, whom we also interviewed about their persecutory acts, using the Index Offense Interview. The results indicated that the vast majority of the stalkers in our sample had a dismissing SoM with respect to their early attachment, as well as many unresolved traumas. Furthermore, by comparing their narratives, we outlined six narrative themes: (a) the perception of rejection as a main motivational factor, (b) the representation of the self as right and as a victim of others’ behaviors, (c) a lack of impulse control, (d) the idealization of attachment figures, (e) intense separation anxiety, and (f) a personal theory about stalking. Given this population’s high recurrence rates following detention, the study of which adult attachment representations are linked with the stalking phenomenon and which critical themes are present in stalkers’ narratives may improve clinical interventions for this specific population.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

States of Mind With Respect to Adult Attachment and Reflective Functioning in a Sample of Men Detained for Stalking: Evaluation and Clinical Implications

Civilotti

Sciascia

Zaccagnino³

et al. 2020

SAGE Open

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“…Different from other studies, where emerges that stalkers use hyper-activating emotional strategies (e.g., Davis et al, 2000; Spitzberg & Cupach, 2014), our sample of detained stalkers seems to be more comparable to the results of Veglia and Castellino (2013), Grattagliano et al (2015) and Fonagy and Levinson (2004) who asserted that sex offenders and prisoners use mainly de-activating and derogating strategies when they have to deal with self and others’ emotions, but this attitude is associate with a deep behavioral dys-regulation. Assuming this framework, the emotional deprivation theory suggested by Fonagy and Levinson (2004) provides a fertile perspective in which it is possible to understand stalkers’ dysfunctional psychological functioning.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…The common hypothesis is that people who did not experience security in their first attachment relationships may tend to have problems with emotional regulation (Babcock et al, 2000; Cassidy, 1994; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2019). The vast majority of studies have concluded that stalkers probably present ambivalent, avoidant or, more generally, insecure attachment states of mind with respect to adult attachment (Civilotti et al, 2020; Davis et al, 2000; Grattagliano et al, 2015). Furthermore, according to Lewis et al (2001), stalkers tend to have difficulties with forming and maintaining appropriate and reciprocal relationships and with emotional stability.…”

Section: Dissociation In Stalker Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive mechanisms in a sample of detained stalkers: Evaluation of dissociative tendencies, impaired reflective function, and ruminative thought.

Civilotti¹,

Sciascia²,

Volsi³

et al. 2023

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

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In the last decade, there has been an increase in scientific, forensic, and social interest around the issue of stalking. Several studies have focused on the behavior of the stalker and the dynamics implemented, identifying a problem related to "rumination" or repeated sequences of obsessive ideas and thoughts with related impulsive and compulsive behavior. Unfortunately, an impaired reflective function (RF) associated with ruminative distortion is relatively underinvestigated in its possible link to stalking conduct. The aims of the present research are: (a) to investigate whether dissociative tendencies are present in our sample when they stalked the victim; (b) to assess the quality of their RF in relation to their early attachment and their crime narrations; and (c) to describe the quality of the stalkers' mental process. We administered a structured questionnaire, the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II), and two interviews, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Index Offence Interview (IOI), to a sample of 14 male stalkers detained in two northwest Italian correctional facilities. The interviews were then evaluated using the Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS), a measure of the subject's ability to infer mental states in self and others and analyzed through the Interpretative Phenomenological Analyses (IPA). The DES-II average score (M = 12.03; SD = 8.98) did not differ from the mean of the general population found in scientific literature, whereas AAI and IOI RFS scores ranged, respectively, from 1 to 3 and −1 to 3. Stalkers in our sample showed a significantly lower RF score in the narratives related to the crime (M = 1.1; SD = 1.66), compared to the RF of the AAI (M = 2.4; SD = 0.65). From the AAI and the IOI emerged a difficulty in connecting mental status and behaviors and a ruminative thinking, with a recurrent sense of injustice, a distorted mental process and a little or no awareness of their own and others' mental states. The rehabilitation of mentalizing capacity should be considered as a priority among these subjects, to further strengthen a reflective attitude and to make them more responsible for their own behavior. Clinical implications and intervention procedures were discussed.

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“…Dismissing people have a positive view of self and a negative view of others, and they are rejecting other people to maintain their high sense of self ( Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991 ; Feeney & Noller, 1990 ). Literature has broadly underlined that insecurely attached people are susceptible to experiencing negative emotions due to the rejecting or inconstant responses offered by their caregivers ( Grattagliano et al, 2015 ; Troyer & Greitemeyer, 2018 ). Moreover, they might show more self-centred emotional reactions and difficulties in considering the real emotions and needs of others ( van der Mark, van Ijzendoorn, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2002 ).…”

Section: The Role Of Attachment Stylementioning

confidence: 99%

The relation between empathy and aggression: The role of attachment style

et al. 2022

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This study aimed to examine the explaining and moderating role of attachment style profiles on the association between empathy and aggression. Participants were 548 Italian adults (M = 47.62 years, SD = 6.14) who completed a survey measuring attachment, empathy, and aggression. Using cluster analytic methods, initial results indicated two attachment style profiles to be considered (secure vs. insecure). However, we also extracted a more theoretically guided four-cluster solution including preoccupied, secure, fearful, and dismissing profiles. Moreover, structural equation modelling showed that higher levels of empathy linked to lower levels of aggression. Nonetheless, when introducing in the model the dichotomous or the multi-categorical attachment style profile variable as predictive of both empathy and aggression, their association became not significant, while secure attachment profile significantly presented higher levels of empathy and lower levels of aggression compared to the other profiles. Furthermore, attachment style profile moderated the link between empathy and aggression. Specifically, in the secure group empathy and aggression were negatively related, but no significant association was evidenced in the other groups. Findings are discussed in the light of the literature.

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Attachment Models in Incarcerated Sex Offenders: A Preliminary Italian Study Using the Adult Attachment Interview

Cited by 8 publications

References 22 publications

States of Mind With Respect to Adult Attachment and Reflective Functioning in a Sample of Men Detained for Stalking: Evaluation and Clinical Implications

States of Mind With Respect to Adult Attachment and Reflective Functioning in a Sample of Men Detained for Stalking: Evaluation and Clinical Implications

Cognitive mechanisms in a sample of detained stalkers: Evaluation of dissociative tendencies, impaired reflective function, and ruminative thought.

The relation between empathy and aggression: The role of attachment style

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