The Organization of Attachment Relationships: Maturation, Culture, and Context

Quality of attachment has been a central variable in developmental research during recent decades. However, even though attachment is relevant to all cultures and humans of all ages, the majority of research has focused on middle class infants in Anglicized cultures. Further, the function of attachment to protect humans from danger has been overlooked in a focus on the advantages of safety and security. This volume, first published in 2000, presents a theory on attachment that broadens its range to ages beyond infancy, to many cultures and to endangered populations, including both psychopathological individuals and those living in threatening contexts. The intent is to provide new theory and methods to better understand human variation in interpersonal and cultural self-protective strategies. The expansion of the attachment classificatory system beyond its roots in infancy and to a broad range of cultures differentiates this volume from other work on attachment.