Attachment Theory: New Developments and Perspectives
Attachment theory has long been debated and politicized within social work and education. This presentation explores practitioners' reflections on attachment, highlighting the importance of updating knowledge to align with contemporary research findings. Consultation with researchers reveals key ideas relevant to social workers, emphasizing the need to move away from outdated concepts. Contact Dr. Sarah Foster for more information and to share your thoughts on this evolving topic.
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Presentation Transcript
Attachment Theory: New Developments Attachment Theory: New Developments Contact: Dr Sarah Foster, Department of Social Work, Education & Community Wellbeing sarah.l.foster@northumbria.ac.uk
Background Background Attachment has a longstanding place within social work theory and education Though this place is debated (e.g. Shemmings vs White), and politicised (e.g. Narey) This debate as about a strangely out-of-date account of attachment theory
Presentation today Presentation today To understand and respond to this situation we undertook some research We asked social workers in two local authorities to tell us about their perspectives on attachment theory And we asked attachment researchers what they think are the most relevant findings for social work We would love to hear your thoughts!
Beginning a conversation Beginning a conversation We would love to hear your thoughts! sarah.l.foster@northumbria.ac.uk If you put a question or thought in the chat, together with your e-mail address, we will respond after the talk if we don t get to it during the discussion We have started writing about what we are discussing here. If you would be interested to see a copy put your e-mail in the chat
Sarahs research Sarah s research Practitioners were generally thoughtful and careful in reflecting on attachment Many social workers see attachment as important, but don t feel confident in their knowledge Practitioners were often relying on outdated ideas about attachment from before the 1980 Sometimes just based on the connotations of the words e.g. attachment or sensitivity
Consultation with researchers Consultation with researchers Researchers identified 8 ideas supported by contemporary attachment research, which they felt would be most relevant to social workers.
Conclusions Conclusions Lots of change in attachment theory in recent decades Time to move on from focus on mother- infant bonding and categories of insecurity? Keen to begin a conversation do get in touch
Attachment Theory: New Developments Attachment Theory: New Developments Contact: Dr Sarah Foster, Department of Social Work, Education & Community Wellbeing sarah.l.foster@northumbria.ac.uk
