Disorganised attachment indicates child maltreatment: how is this link useful for child protection social workers?

Abstract

This paper examines the indicative link between disorganised attachment and child maltreatment in the context of child protection social work in England. Attachment researchers are showing an increasing interest in the concept of disorganised attachment but there is also a growing interest as to how child protection social workers can more reliably detect child maltreatment by developing their knowledge of disorganised attachment. This paper sets out to examine what is known about the link between disorganised attachment and child maltreatment and considers how the legal concept of ‘significant harm’ fits with this link. Reference is made to the Assessment of Disorganised Attachment and Maltreatment (ADAM) project, set up with the aim of educating child protection social workers in the use of disorganised attachment as an especially useful method of assessing whether a child is at risk of significant harm.

Keywords:

• child maltreatment
• abuse
• neglect
• disorganised attachment
• social work
• child protection