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Abstract
Attachment
disorders arise when children experience prolonged and persistent abuse and
neglect. They are unable to form
attachments and respond to the world with anger, defiance, and aggression. They resist authority figures and defy social
rules. Without early intervention, these
children are at high risk for delinquency, criminality, and the commission of
violent crimes.
Attachment Disorder and Crime
Criminologists recognize that antisocial
behaviors, which are more common in males, can lead to an increase in
criminality and violent crime (Siegel, 2012).
Much of their research has been based on John Bowlby’s attachment
theory.
Psychoanalyst John Bowlby studied
Lorenz’s research on imprinting. He
concluded that “children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to
form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive” (McLeod, 2007). Failure to make secure attachments can lead
to “affectionless psychopathy” later in life (McLeod, 2007).
“Attachment is an enduring affective
bond characterized by a tendency to seek and maintain proximity to a specific
person, particularly when under stress” (Levy, 2000). This bond is created between mother and child
during the nine months of pregnancy and the first two years of life (Levy,
2000). The mother-child bond is unique
and forms through social releasers — behaviors that ensure a reciprocal
response between mother and child (McLeod, 2007). Smiling, eye contact, holding, rocking,
touching, and feeding are cues which create a “mutual regulatory system” (Levy,
2000).
When the mother-child bond fails to
develop, infants can suffer from severe colic and feeding difficulties, fail to
gain weight and reach important developmental milestones, remain detached and
unresponsive, refuse to be comforted, and respond too readily to strangers
(Attachment Disorders, 2014).
Children need a “secure base” to learn
trust and reciprocity, qualities which lay the foundation for all future
relationships (Levy, 2000). They must be
able to explore their environment
without fear and anxiety so they can attain full cognitive and social
development (Levy, 2000). A strong,
secure attachment between mother (or other primary caregiver) and child helps
the child to learn self-regulation (self-management of impulses and emotions)
(Levy, 2000). The child has the
opportunity to form a strong self-identity, competence, and self-worth and to
create balance between dependence on the mother and his own autonomy (Levy,
2000). A secure base allows the child to
learn empathy and compassion and to develop a conscience (Levy, 2000). A
well-established core belief system helps the child to evaluate himself, his
caregiver, and the world around him (Levy, 2000). He learns resourcefulness and the resilience
to cope with stress and adverse events (Levy, 2000).
Even adopted infants can “develop
healthy attachment relationships” in the first year of life if raised in a safe
and secure environment by a caregiver who is consistently responsive to their
needs (Reebye, 2007). Children with Down
Syndrome tend to develop attachments later, during the 12-24 month period
(Reebye, 2007).
Secure attachment allows children to
develop positive patterns of cognition, behavior, and interaction which help
them to survive successfully within the family and society at large (Levy,
2000). They internalize altruism,
empathy, compassion, kindness, and morality, qualities which lead to proper
social behavior and social cohesion.
They learn to view themselves, the caregiver, life, and the world as
essentially good, safe, and worthwhile.
Children who do not develop secure
attachments experience just the opposite.
They learn to view themselves, the caregiver, life, and the world as
hostile, dangerous, and worthless (Levy, 2000).
By age four, these children exhibit symptoms of chronic aggression —
“rage, bullying, defiance, and controlling interactions with others” (Levy,
2000). These are the children who overwhelm
the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and carry diagnoses of conduct
disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and antisocial personality
disorder. Children with severe
attachment disorder typically engage in cruelty to animals, bed-wetting,
fire-setting, pathological lying, and self-gratification at the expense of
others. They are predatory and vindictive,
controlling and manipulative. They lack
empathy, remorse, and a moral conscience.
They are unable to form close relationships with others because they
never experienced it themselves.
Adults with these traits are often
labeled psychopaths and may become serial killers and mass murderers (Levy,
2000). The motivations for their crimes
are manipulation, dominance, and control.
They feel powerless and inferior, committing horrific crimes against
others as a way to release their frustrations and hostilities (Levy, 2000).
But why do some children fail to develop
a secure attachment to their mother or other primary caregiver? Researchers have determined several common
factors — “abuse and neglect, single-parent homes, stressed caregivers, parents
with criminal records” (Levy, 2000).
Other factors include parental mental illness, substance abuse, and a
history of maltreatment.
Within the family, persistent conflict
and violence lead to childhood anxiety, fear, and insecurity. Children learn that violence is an acceptable
way of dealing with life (Levy, 2000).
Poverty, living in an unstable community
rife with violence, access to weapons, and graphic depictions of violence on TV
and in the movies desensitizes children.
They learn to “express feelings, solve problems, boost self-image, and
attain power” through aggression and violence (Levy, 2000).
Prenatal drug and alcohol abuse,
maternal stress, birth complications,
prematurity, nutritional deprivation, and genetics can lead to inherited
personality traits and brain damage that interfere with learning, attention
spans, and impulse control. Compound
this with a firmly-established attachment disorder, and a child is likely to be
difficult to control, impulsive, hyperactive, defiant, aggressive, indifferent
to learning, and angry (Levy, 2000).
Children who are maltreated are often
found in foster care, kinship care, adoptive care, and orphanages (Chaffin,
2006). This includes children adopted
from other countries. They grow up in
unstable environments, without the consistent affection and nurturing required
to develop secure attachments (Chaffin, 2006).
They may grow up with suppressed anger that causes them to “seek
control, resist authority, engage in power struggles and antisocial behavior”
(Chaffin, 2006). They become
self-centered, resist close attachments, and eventually fall into delinquency
and criminality (Chaffin, 2006).
Teenagers still need a “secure base” as
they wrestle with independence versus security (Mathew, 1995). If a teenager has developed a secure
attachment to his mother or other primary caregiver, he will weather the storms
of adolescence with more resilience and adaptive abilities to cope with stress
and change. A strong, loving family
environment teaches teenagers social competence and self-confidence.
Adolescents who grow up in unstable,
inconsistent homes torn apart by conflict and violence develop “psychopathology
resulting from the inability to function competently in social situations”
(Mathew, 1995). “Delinquency, addiction,
and depression” grow out of “inadequate problem-solving” (Mathew, 1995). The teenager suffering from attachment
disorder is incapable
of
interpreting and responding to social cues in appropriate ways (Mathew,
1995). They view the world as a hostile
place, attribute hostile intentions to other people, and respond aggressively.
Decades of research have found clear
links between early childhood abuse and neglect, attachment disorder, and
delinquency and violence later in life.
It is not surprising, then, that children under age twelve have
committed some of the cruelest crimes or that adolescent males are three times
more likely to commit violent crimes than their female counterparts (Levy,
2000).
Method
Process
Research was conducted online through
EBSCO and Google Scholar using the keywords “attachment disorder,” “John
Bowlby,” and “attachment disorder and crime.”
Results
Attachment theory has been around for a
long time. It has been studied and
expanded on by others. A lot of research
is available concerning attachment theory, maternal deprivation hypothesis,
reactive attachment disorder (RAD), disinhibited social engagement disorder
(DSED), secure base distortion, rage theory, disordered attachment,
disorganized attachment, disoriented attachment, and insecure attachment. These are all variations on the same theme —
early childhood abuse and neglect lead ultimately to emotional detachment, dysfunction,
anger, defiance, and aggression.
Discussion
Traditional psychotherapeutic tools are
ineffective on children suffering from attachment disorder because these
children are unable to trust others and form the therapeutic bond
necessary
to engage in treatment (Levy, 2000).
Without early intervention, however, these children are at high risk for
risky behaviors, criminality, and incarceration.
Several treatment modalities have been
developed to help children overcome their attachment difficulties. Most focus on learning how to trust and feel
secure. One of the more controversial,
Holding Nurturing Process (HNP), involves forcibly holding the child and
maintaining eye contact, which is supposed to promote secure attachment and
self-regulation (Chaffin, 2006). HNP has
been associated with the death of several children, however, and criminal
charges have been filed against some attachment therapists and parents
(Chaffin, 2006).
The most effective attachment therapies
allow the child to gradually build up trust with a committed therapist who then
works with the child to re-program patterns of negative thinking and behaving
(Levy, 2000). Therapy is based on the
individual needs of the child and involves family, school, and community. The child learns positive coping skills that
help him to function successfully within the family and society.
Parents and other primary caregivers can
undergo Corrective Attachment Therapy in order to enhance their parenting
skills and learn specific tools for dealing with a difficult child (Levy,
2000). Parent and child must go through
therapy simultaneously so that they both learn mutual caring and respect; open
up to feelings of affection; set up limits, rules, and boundaries; share
empathy and compassion; and learn how to be in tune with one another (Levy,
2000).
If high risk families can be identified
early in the process, families can be enrolled in special programs and children
can receive the treatment they need to overcome the damage already done.
References
Attachment disorders. (2014, January). American Academy of Child & Adolescent
Attachment disorders. (2014, January). American Academy of Child & Adolescent
For_Families/FFF-Guide/Attachment-Disorders-085.aspx.
Chaffin,
M., Hanson, R., Saunders, B., Nichols, T., Barnett, D., Zeanah, C., Berliner,
L.,
. . . Miller-Perrin, C. (2006). Report
of the apsac task force on attachment therapy, reactive
attachment disorder, and attachment
problems. Child Maltreatment, 11(1),
76-89. doi:
10.1177/1077559505283699.
Levy,
Terry M. & Orlans, M. (2000). Attachment disorder as an antecedent to
violence and
antisocial patterns in children. In
Levy, Terry M., Editor, Handbook of
attachment inter-
ventions
(pp. 1-26). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Mathew,
S., Rutemiller, L., Sheldon-Keller, A., Sheras, P., Canterbury, R. (1995). Attachment
and social problem solving in juvenile
delinquents (Report No. 143). Washington, D.C.:
Educational Resources Information
Center.
McLeod,
S. (2007). Bowlby’s attachment theory. Simply
Psychology. Retrieved from
Reebye,
P. & Kope, T. (2007). Attachment disorders. BC Medical Journal, 49(4), 189-193.
Siegel,
Larry J. (2012). Criminology.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
(The references did not all format correctly.)
Dawn Pisturino
Mohave Community College
Criminology 225
November 29, 2016
Copyright 2016-2017 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
(The references did not all format correctly.)
Dawn Pisturino
Mohave Community College
Criminology 225
November 29, 2016
Copyright 2016-2017 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
