Human Attachment

This brand new text is the first and only comprehensive introduction to attachment research and theory. The book is written for the undergraduate or graduate course in attachment, or could be used as a supplementary text for a variety of developmental courses. The book explains theory, research methodology, research results, and discusses both healthy and pathological development in infancy, childhood, adolescence and the adult years. The text is organized into four units. Unit I tells the story of the early history of attachment theory and research, then introduces the major propositions of attachment theory. Unit II describes the three major methods for studying attachment in infancy, then discusses how infants form attachments. Unit III discusses representational models, methods for studying attachments in childhood, and the association between attachment patterns and aspects of personality and social behavior in childhood. Unit IV begins by describing hypotheses about what's happening with attachments and how attachment patterns affect feelings, thoughts, behavior, and intimate relationships in adolescence and in the adult years. Finally, it describes what data about personality, relationships, marriage, loneliness, separation, loss and old age that we can relate to attachment patterns.