Can Attachment Inform Decision‐making in Child Protection and Forensic Settings?

Abstract

The historic publication of the "consensus statement" on not using the "D/disorganized" category in the infant Strange Situation (M. Ainsworth, M. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978) for case-specific child protection work (P. Granqvist et al., 2017) opens the door for a broader discussion of different branches of attachment theory and different attachment classificatory systems applied to infants, young children, and their parents. We agree with the consensus authors that Strange Situation classifications alone, regardless of coding method, are insufficient for decision-making. The authors, however, have acknowledged that the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM; Crittenden, 2016) offers a different perspective on classifying Strange Situations. The DMM is a branch of attachment theory that expands the Ainsworth A and C classifications across the life span to reflect the complex attachment strategies that some individuals use in dangerous contexts. We contrast the DMM to the D classification, both for the Strange Situation for infants and its adaptation for young children and also for the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1984-1996 for their parents. We initiate a scientific dialogue by addressing three points: (a) "Attachment" does not imply or require a model that includes a D/disorganization category nor is the D/disorganized category the only clinical expansion of Mary Ainsworth's (1978) original work; (b) the DMM method for classifying Strange Situations may be better attuned to parental inadequacy and child protection than is the D/disorganized category; and (c) with attention to guidelines, DMM classifications from the Strange Situation with both infants and preschool-aged children can be used in a case-specific manner in both treatment and forensic settings. The same is true for other DMM assessments of attachment, including the AAI. We close by suggesting steps that could further understanding and application of Ainsworth's great accomplishment: individual differences in attachment relationships.RESUMEN: La histórica publicación del "Acta de Consenso" sobre el no usar la categoría 'D/desorganizado' en la Situación Extraña del infante en el trabajo de protección del niño para casos específicos (Granqvist, et al., 2017) abre las puertas para una más amplia discusión de diferentes ramas de la teoría de afectividad y diferentes sistemas de clasificación de la afectividad aplicados a los infantes, niños pequeños y sus progenitores. Estamos de acuerdo con los autores del consenso de que las clasificaciones de la Situación Extraña, por sí solas, sin tomar en cuenta el método de codificación, son insuficientes en la toma de decisiones. Los autores, sin embargo, reconocen que el Modelo Dinámico-Madurativo de Afectividad y Adaptación (DMM; Crittenden, 2016) ofrece una perspectiva diferente acerca de cómo clasificar las Situaciones Extrañas. El DMM representa una rama de la teoría de afectividad que expande las clasificaciones A y C de Ainsworth a lo largo de...

Diagnostic Use of Crittenden's Attachment Measures in Family Court Is Not Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

“…Spieker and Crittenden (this issue) acknowledge that we were right to recognize that assessments of attachment disorganization (Main & Solomon, ) have insufficient sensitivity and specificity as indicators of maltreatment. To reiterate, we pointed to such limitations because we had seen serious misapplications that do real harm to developing children (for erroneous child removals, see Granqvist, ).…”

“…DMM measures clearly do continuously change, much to their own detriment in terms of being a series of sound and psychometrically robust measures. The DMM circumplex classification system of adult attachment, for example, is now up to some 24 subcategories altogether (see S&C's [this issue] Figure 3), including 14 atypical ones, somewhat loosely organized along two dimensions and placed in five main categories—indeed a shower of colorful confetti (Bakermans‐Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, ). No wonder that it is hard to become a reliable coder.…”

“…Spieker and Crittenden (this issue) find it difficult to accept that some maltreated children or children of depressed mothers can be securely attached: “Any secure classification of a maltreated child or when the mother is clinically depressed is anomalous” (p. 630). Detecting maltreated, but allegedly secure, children served for Crittenden (see S&C, this issue) as a “basis for proposing new categories and coding guidelines” that can identify “new behavioural markers and self‐protective attachment strategies among maltreated children” (p. 630). This is what ultimately yielded some of the DMM's atypical classifications.…”

“…Spieker and Crittenden (this issue) claim that the “Strange Situation ‐ and other DMM assessments of attachment ‐ can contribute to … court decision‐making” (p. 630). If maltreatment is (allegedly) identified via the DMM, then the court—following child‐protective legislation—would more or less have to rule for child removal.…”

“…In Spieker and Crittenden's (this issue) article, “Can Attachment Inform Decision‐Making in Child Protection and Forensic Settings?” they take issue with our consensus statement on the misuse of attachment measures in family court procedures and other child‐protection and forensic settings (Granqvist et al., ). They argue that the attachment measures developed according to the dynamic‐maturational model of attachment and adaptation (DMM; Crittenden, ) would better fit the diagnostic requirements of reliability and validity.…”