Raising Parents: Attachment, Parenting and Child Safety

Cover......Page 1
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 8
Preface......Page 10
Part 1 - Growing Up......Page 18
1. Yesterday’s children: Today’s mothers and fathers......Page 20
Raising children......Page 21
Individual differences in how parents raise children......Page 22
The problem of risky parenting......Page 24
The dynamic-maturational model (DMM) of attachment and adaptation......Page 28
Changing professionals’ response......Page 31
Note......Page 32
2. Early childhood: Learning to be safe at home......Page 33
Developmental pathways......Page 37
Note......Page 54
3. Going to school: Coping with a complex world......Page 55
Adolescence (puberty – 16 years)......Page 72
The complexity of development in childhood......Page 80
Notes......Page 84
4. Becoming an adult: Leaving and loving......Page 85
Transition to adulthood (16–25 years)......Page 86
Type C problems......Page 90
Type A problems......Page 93
Yesterday’s children......Page 105
Five transformations of information......Page 107
Dispositional representations (DRs)......Page 109
What kinds of DRs are there?......Page 113
Levels of awareness......Page 122
Conclusions......Page 123
Notes......Page 124
From representation to strategy......Page 125
How does perception of danger affect behavior?......Page 133
How do parents’ strategies affect children’s strategies?......Page 134
Conclusions......Page 137
Part 2 - Raising Children......Page 138
Why parents behave as they do......Page 140
Current practice......Page 141
Interpersonal disorders in children......Page 143
Assessing transformations of information and DRs......Page 147
Ranking transformations of information......Page 148
8. Distortions of normal child-protective behavior: Marginal maltreatment of children......Page 151
Cluster 1: Parents whose competing representations too often reflect self-needs, thus minimizing recognition of child needs (thu......Page 152
Notes......Page 161
Cluster 2: Parents who exaggerate the probability of danger to their children by relying on past contingencies (thus overprotect......Page 162
Conclusions......Page 172
Note......Page 173
10. Parents whose own needs skew their perceptions: Distortions that emphasize parental self-comfort......Page 174
Cluster 3: Parents who transform desire for comfort into sexual desire and respond to children’s needs with sexualized behavior......Page 175
11. Parents whose own needs skew their perceptions: The absence of parental protection......Page 189
Cluster 4: Parents who fail to perceive children’s signals or to attribute a need to protect the children to the signals (thus s......Page 190
12. Distortions that substitute erroneous information for accurate information and that miscontrue children as being threatened......Page 208
Cluster 5: Parents who misconstrue powerful forces as threatening both themselves and their children (thus sometimes severely in......Page 209
Notes......Page 229
13. Distortions that substitute deadly delusional information for accurate information misconstruing the child as being the threat......Page 230
Cluster 6: Parents who implicitly believe that their children threaten their own survival (thus sometimes deliberately killing t......Page 231
Type A......Page 233
Type C......Page 242
Note......Page 249
Part 3 - An Integrative Approach to Treatment......Page 250
14. Why do we need a new theory of treatment?......Page 252
Changes in paradigm......Page 253
Treatment efficacy......Page 257
Uncertainties, puzzles, and inconsistencies......Page 261
What do we need?......Page 262
Notes......Page 264
Ideas that shaped the DMM......Page 265
Conclusions......Page 270
Comprehensive theories......Page 272
The crucial elements of the DMM regarding treatment of dysfunction......Page 273
Notes......Page 284
What sort of assessment is needed?......Page 286
What is assessment?......Page 291
Assessing attachment and information processing......Page 293
How much effort should be put into assessment?......Page 301
Ongoing assessment following formal assessment......Page 302
Note......Page 303
Functional formulation......Page 304
Attachment and critical causes and case planning......Page 312
Genes, neurological structures, environment and psychological disorder......Page 314
Treatment......Page 318
Changing information processing......Page 321
Note......Page 324
20. Psychological treatment: Three cases......Page 325
Mild and transient dysfunction (normal parenting)......Page 326
Moderately severe dysfunction (cluster 3)......Page 332
Severe parenting dysfunction (cluster 5)......Page 340
Conclusions......Page 345
Notes......Page 346
21. Improving the safety of children and families......Page 347
Maladaptation and treatment......Page 348
Parenting......Page 352
Potentially helpful changes......Page 353
From survival to healing to living......Page 355
Notes......Page 357
Bibliography......Page 358
Index......Page 385
Back Cover......Page 399