The Development Of Attachment And Affiliative Systems

The "Development of Attachment and Affiliative Systems" was selected as the topic for a three-day workshop held at Estes Park, Colorado, in May, 1980. The papers which resulted from this effort not only reflect a recent intensity of research in this area, but also highlight a mounting need for ask ing questions across disciplines and for integrating theories. The sponsor of the workshop was the Developmental Psychobiology Research Group (DPRG) of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Medical School, a group which itself is interdisciplinary and which has met regularly since 1969 to criticize research, ask questions, and discuss findings. In 1974, the Group was awarded an endowment fund by the Grant Foundation after a request for a proposal initiated by Philip Sapir and Douglas Bond. The aims of this fund are to facilitate the research of young investigators, to encourage new research, and to provide seed money for collaborative ventures. Much of what is reported here results from that support. Thus, happily, not only are the contributions timely by virtue of converging on an important topic, but they also commemorate more than five years of Grant Foundation support. Once the topic was chosen, a small number of guests were invited to participate. The papers of Timiras, Sackett, Konner, and Lamb represent dif fering perspectives from neurobiology, primatology, cultural anthropology, and social psychology.

"Continuities and Discontinuities in Development" was the theme for the Second Biennial DPRG Retreat, a three-day meeting held at Estes Park, Colorado, in June 1982. The meeting was sponsored by the Devel opmental Psychobiology Research Group (DPRG) of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The DPRG is a group of individuals conducting research in many areas of develop ment who meet on a regular basis to present and discuss their work and receive feedback and encouragement. In 1974, this group was awarded an endowment fund by the Grant Foundation, the aims of which were to facilitate the research of young investigators, to encourage new re search, and to provide seed money for collaborative ventures. Much of the work reported in this volume and in the earlier volume from the First DPRG Retreat is the result of that support. In addition to the work of the members of the DPRG, a select group of guests was invited to participate in the meeting and contribute to this volume. The chapters by William Greenough, Jerome Kagan, and Michael Rutter result from the participation of these scholars at the retreat. We would like to acknowledge the support of a number of indi viduals who have been instrumental in supporting the DPRG as a whole, as well as those who contributed directly to the Second Biennial Retreat and to the volume.

Synthesizing decades of influential research and theory, Michael Lewis demonstrates the centrality of consciousness for emotional development. At first, infants' competencies constitute innate reactions to particular physical events in the child's world. These "action patterns" are not learned, but are readily influenced by temperament and social interactions. With the rise of consciousness, these early competencies become reflected feelings, giving rise to the self-conscious emotions of empathy, envy, and embarrassment, and, later, shame, guilt, and pride. Focusing on typically developing children, Lewis also explores problems of atypical emotional development. Winner/m-/William James Book Award, Society for General Psychology (APA Division 1)

This volume is the result of a symposium titled "Constructivist Approaches to Atypical Development and Developmental Psychopathology." What emerges from the work included here is a record of innovative extensions, refinements, and applications of the concept of constructivism. The chapters not only demonstrate the compatibility of constructivism with investigations of atypicality, but also the generation of a constructivist perspective for a wide array of problems in developmental psychology.

The main objective of the research presented in this book is to broaden the scope of attachment theory by stressing the importance of a social network approach to the study of attachment. This approach forms the integrating theme of this volume, as is testified by various studies of attachment as it develops in an "extended" rearing context over and beyond the limits of the traditional mother-child dyad. In this connection attention is paid to the importance of sibling relationships, attachment relationships with professional caregivers, the role of the father in caring and rearing young children, and the (short-term and long-term) effects on attachment quality of maternal employment in infancy. Also, the cross-cultural validity of Ainsworth's Strange Situation is discussed, with reference to the USA, Sweden, Israel, Japan, The Netherlands, etc. In adopting a social network approach, the attachment theory proves to be a particularly useful instrument for reflecting on the consequence of social change (maternal employment, symmetrical families, socialisation of childrearing) for child development.

First published in 1987. This study records findings of a study group set up to explore a variety of issues related to attachment, including the predictive utility of Strange Situation assessments, the conditions under which insecurity is related to subsequent difficulties, the origins of individual differences in attachment security, and intervention strategies that might prove useful in ameliorating the developmental risks that appeared to be associated with insecure attachment relationships

A bestseller for over 20 years, I Don’t Want to Talk About It is a groundbreaking and hopeful guide to understanding and destigmatizing male depression, essential not only for men who may be suffering but for the people who love them. Twenty years of experience treating men and their families has convinced psychotherapist Terrence Real that depression is a silent epidemic in men—that men hide their condition from family, friends, and themselves to avoid the stigma of depression’s “un-manliness.” Problems that we think of as typically male—difficulty with intimacy, workaholism, alcoholism, abusive behavior, and rage—are really attempts to escape depression. And these escape attempts only hurt the people men love and pass their condition on to their children. This groundbreaking book is the “pathway out of darkness” that these men and their families seek. Real reveals how men can unearth their pain, heal themselves, restore relationships, and break the legacy of abuse. He mixes penetrating analysis with compelling tales of his patients and even his own experiences with depression as the son of a violent, depressed father and the father of two young sons.

This illustrated book shows how "thinking" systems offer new ways of seeing people which can help us see and do things differently. The authors describe how a theory of living human systems was developed and even recently revised. This major revision led to a theory of the person-as-a-system and its role-systems map that helps us see which system in us and in others is running the show. The authors illustrate how life force energy fuels the hierarchy of living human systems and how theory and practice with role-systems can be useful in everyday life. They begin with describing how they have used the new illustrations as a map to locate the contexts of our roles. Using this map has also enabled the authors to identify the role-systems and explore the territory of ourselves and our groups in new ways that deepened our understanding of roles and role locks. This book illustrates systems-centered therapy and training (SCT) theory by offering a practical theory to guide group psychotherapists, leaders and consultants in working with group dynamics.