Benjamin and Geraldine are considering adopting a child from an unstable, war torn, and undeveloped country. The country recently experienced a catastrophic natural disaster that left many children orphaned. They are seeking feedback from you on your knowledge of attachment disorders. Based upon your reading of the text, provide Benjamin and Geraldine a written summary of attachment disorders.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Attachment disordersrefer to disturbed and developmentally inappropriate behaviors in children, emerging before five years of age, in which the child is unable or unwilling to form normal attachment relationships with caregiving adults.  These seriously maladaptive patterns are due to inadequate or abusive child-rearing practices.  In many cases, these inadequate child-rearing practices might be caused by frequent changes in the primary caregiver because of multiple foster care placements, or possibly just neglect in the home.  In reactive attachment disorder the child will seldom seek out a caregiver for protection, support, and nurturance and will seldom respond to offers from caregivers to give this type of care. Generally, they would evidence lack of responsiveness, limited positive affect, and additional heightened emotionality, such as fearfulness and intense sadness.  In disinhibited social engagement disorder, a similar set of child-rearing circumstances would result in a pattern of behavior in which the child shows no inhibitions whatsoever to approaching adults.  Such a child might engage in inappropriately intimate behavior by showing a willingness to immediately accompany an unfamiliar adult figure somewhere.