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ATTACHMENT AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

How Early Childhood Experiences Affect Later Development

SAMUEL H. AQUINO JR.

Interpersonal relationships are pivotal for studying the development and human

psychopathology. This is so at multiple levels of analysis, from defining psychopathology, to

describing preconditions and contexts, and to understanding its nature and origins.

For example, relationship problems are often markers of psychological disturbance, and

diagnosis of psychological abnormalities often benchmark on relationship indicators. Social

relationships are important contexts in the development, persistence, or desistence of

psychopathology.

John Bowlby's theory of attachment is has been recognized to be both a theory of

normal development and of pathological development. It tells mental and developmental

professionals specific and clear propositions regarding the role of early experiences in the

development of psychopathology.

It is a basic tenet of psychodynamic theories that the early experiences of the individual

has significant bearing on his later personality and relationships. It has once been a baffling topic

for developmental psychologist to understand the complete mechanics of the relationship between

significant childhood events and later life experiences.

Bowlby's theory of Attachment has three basic tenets often referred to as the trilogic

theory of attachment. These tenets assert that:

(1) attachment refers to a pattern of organized behavior within a relationship. It is

not immutable and is not independent of subsequent experiences

(2) the development of a person turns at each and every stage of the journey on

an interaction of the individual as it has developed up to that moment and the environment

in which it finds itself. Early experiences creates a framework for the individual as at the

same time it is influenced by later experiences.

(3) Bowlby proposed a theory of dynamic systems of psychopathology based on a

complex interaction of constituents over the course of development

The individual is a product of all his/ her experiences, not just from the past nor the

present only. The attachment theory of Bowlby seems to indicate that pathology would be a joint

product of early experiences and on going support or challenge, that cumulative maladaptation

would be less easily changed than early anxious attachment.

However, early experiences is also significant in that it frames the future interactions of

the child with the later environment. This is in recognition that the child not only interprets the

experiences, the child creates the experience. Early attachment experiences by a child are the first

experiences of emotional closeness. These vital relationships become the prototype for close

relationships throughout life, especially for intimate relationships and for parenting. This'

implication is the concept of intergenerational transmission of attachment. How we have

experienced our early attachments seem to have a compulsive effect on how we will later develop

our relationships.

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Bowlby argues that people create internal working models based on their preceding

experiences. This creates a basis of interaction and perception for the individual. Say, in the case of

children, they derive from their earlier experiences on how they would interact with another

person. They develop expectations out of earlier relationships on how people usually interact and

relate. As such, if they develop pathological internal working models out of pathological

experiences, they will possibly relate to other people in a pathological way also. Humans cannot

possibly keep themselves from doing this.

The hypotheses that early attachment creates a foundation of later psychopathology

comes from the following assumptions presented by (Vaughn, Waters,Egeland, & Sroufe, 1979, p.

974).

1. The present quality of care received by the individual will add up to the early

attachment history in predicting the probability of psychopathology, since adaptation is always a

product of or current circumstances and early history

2. The broader context of the present environment interacting indirectly with the

individual will also add up to the probability of pathology beyond early attachment

3. The recurrence of pathological attachments will further add up to predicting

pathology

4. Pathology itself at the current stage will be predictable in the light of the

changes in stresses/ support

An important implication of these assumptions is in diagnosing and intervention. In

qualifying the cause of a certain psychopathology, based on the indicated assumptions, a clinician

must be able to explore the dynamics of early attachment as well as the individual interaction with

the present environment, whether there is sufficient support or too much stress. Furthermore, in

intervention, if possible, issues with present support or stresses can be reinforced (or otherwise)

depending on the nature of the situation. After all, knowledge of relational processes, in this case,

attachment relationships, can contribute to an understanding of etiology, maintenance, and

treatment of psychopathology.

Attachment, Agression, Psychopathy, and Self-control

What psychopathological characteristics do attachment usually influence? Major among

these is aggression. It has been found (Garelly, 1997) that psychopathy in general, felony in

particular, are deeply rooted with histories of deserting, threatening, or violent parents. Also,

confirmed psychopaths, such as criminals, murderers, and other systematic social offenders,

usually report histories or early adverse parental attitudes and disrupted relationships, particularly

mother threats of desertion as a means of discipline.

It is also important to note that when a parent threatens to desert a child as a form of

discipline, the child likely feels anger for being accepted on certain conditions only. However, the

anger is left unexpressed for fear that the parent will really desert. This repressed emotions finds

other ways in expressing itself, usually, in displacement to less threatening objects. This starts a

pattern of aggressive behavior as a means of expressing repressed anger towards a hostile parent/

caregiver.

In their book a General Theory of Crime, Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi (1990)

proposed that the main reason why people commit crime is because of the absence of self-control.

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Moreover, they proposed that the lack of self-control of a certain individual can be attributed to

his/her early attachment experiences. Person with high self-control consider the long-term effects

of their behavior; those with low self-control do not. Such control is learned, usually early in life,

and once learned, is highly resistant to change.

Contemporary to Gottfredson's and Hirschi's theory of crime is the theory of age-graded

life-course perspective on crime by Samson and Laub (1993). If the General Theory of crime by the

Gottfredson and Hirschi posits that the self-control of the individual is founded early in life and is

basically resistant to change (but possible), the Age-graded life-course theory of crime asserts that

the development of the self-control of a person is influenced by age-specific life events and is

highly changeable as one goes through the process of development.

Both theories seem to be irreconcilable. However, Katz (1999) argues that both theories

can actually work side by side by using the Attachment Theory of Bowlby as the linking factor. Thus,

these theories assume differently about likely offenders. Nonetheless, they share a focus on a

pivotal causal process as cited by Katz (1999): "for Gottfredson and Hirschi, it is the emotional

investment of the parents in the child's development of self-control; for Sampson and Laub, it is the

emotional attachment of a previous offender to a job or a marriage, which leads to desistance. This

similarity allows them to be linked using a psychological theory of deviance called attachment

theory (e.g. Bowlby 1944; Horner 1991)."

Bowlby once explained that delinquents are actually "affectionless", that is, they have

been unable to intimately connect with others. This is because of the cumulative effect of the

maladaptations experienced in his/her relationships that were first intitiated by an unhealthy

attachment with a parent/ caregiver. A child that has not been loved does not know how to love.

The most delinquent boys and girls in Bowlby's original study were unable to intimately connect

with others and were insecurely attached to their primary caretakers in early childhood.

Katz posited that an insecure attachment produces low levels of empathic

understanding (e.g., Chaffin, 1992; Richardson et al. 1994). This character is a strong predictor of

later delinquency. Gottfredson and Hirschi suggests that the development of empathy

(subsequently, self-control) needs to be an emotional investment by a caregiver to a child - that is,

the attachment from parent to child is built on a strong emotional foundation. This focus on

emotional investment becomes a major link between the general theory of crime and attachment

theory.

On one hand, the theory of Sampson and Laub assumes that the causal relationship

between early delinquent offending and later adult deviant behavior is not solely a product of

individual characteristics; social events may change some individuals while others continue to

offend. If compared with the general theory of crime, this latter theory seems to say that crime is

not just the result of a persons characteristics as developed by earlier experiences. Rather, it

postulates that crime is the result between the interaction of the person and his/her present

context or environment - there is a stronger focus on how the present situation urges the individual

to commit a crime.

Then again, how can these two seemingly contradictory theories meet together. As was

indicated in the earlier part of this article. John Bowlby recognizes the influence of later

relationships on the characteristic attachment of a person established during childhood. Bowlby

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asserted that the present support/ stresses or environment of the person interacts together with

his/her past attachment to predict how he/she will relate in the present. By acknowledging the

effect of such factor, Bowlby has successfully reconciled Gottfredson's, Hirschi's, Samson's, and

Luab's Theories.

In relation to self-control, the crime theories recognizes the first development of

empathy as preceding the self-control. Out of an ability to connect with others and a recognition of

their different personhood, self-control is born. Self-control is primary (though not definitive)

predictor of committing crime, and self-control (and empathy) is developed (or not) during early

childhood. As such, a dysfunctional attachment between parent and child does not foster the

development of empathy and subsequently, of self-control. Out of the poor development of self-

control, high likelihood of committing a crime and psychopathy results.

The past cannot be changed, that is a given, however, how we respond differently (or

similarly)to the present compared to what we've done in the past can greatly influence our present

situation. Personally, I believe that the past contributes a very strong influence in defining the

present person, however, I will not discount the fact that the present situation also (with all its

complexities and other factors) reacts with the past to result with current behavior. It is just a

matter of responsibility and personal mastery in matters where human choice is involved.

REFERENCES:

Garelli, Juan Carlos. 1997 POL.it Vol.3 Issue 1 Gennaio 1997 [Online] <http://priory.com/psych/garelli.htm>

Gottfredson, Michael and Hirschi, Travis. 1990. General Theory of Crime. Stanford

University Press.

Katz, Rebecca S. 1999. "Building the Foundation for a Side-by-Side Explanatory Model: A

General Theory of Crime, the Age-Graded Life-Course Theory, and Attachment

Theory." Western Criminology Review 1(2). [Online]. Available:

http://wcr.sonoma.edu/v1n2/katz.html.

Guttman-Steinmetz, Sarit and Crowell, Judith. 2006, April. Journal of American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45:4.

Pielage, S.B., Gerlsma, J., & Schaap, C.P.D.R. (2000). Clinical Psychology and

Psychotherapy, 7, 296-302.

L. Alan Sroufe, Sunita Duggal, Nancy Weinfield, and Elizabeth Carlson. 2000. Handbook

of Developmental Psychopathology (2nd Ed.. Arnold J. Sameroff, Michael Lewis, and

Suzanne M. Miller (Eds). Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers, New York, 2000.