Attachment Theory, Family System Theory, and the Child Presenting with Significant Behavioral Concerns

Abstract

Allied health and medical professionals—specifically child and family therapists—will be familiar with referrals involving children who have been identified as exhibiting behavioral concerns of some description. This paper will propose that clarity regarding conceptualization of childhood behavioral concerns is aided by a knowledge of both attachment theory and family systems theory and that when applied simultaneously, these theories increase the relevance of the other. In particular, there will be a description of attachment classifications in systemic terms, thus highlighting the relevance of attachment classifications outside of the Strange Situation experiment. Second, the relevance of first- and second-order cybernetics will be discussed with the intention of describing differences between caregivers' approaches to the concerns at hand. Finally, it will be suggested that multiple levels of theory should be considered when responding to childhood behavioral concerns from an attachment/systemic perspective. A case vignette illustrating the application of attachment theory, embedded within a family systems and meta-systems perspective, will be detailed.