NCJ Number
120509
Date Published
1987
Length
361 pages
Annotation
Possible causes for serious breaks in the bonding process between children and caregivers involve day care, parental leave, adoption, foster care, teenage pregnancy, child abuse, and divorce.
Abstract
The most frequent challenges faced by families are child care and parental leave, and these challenges can lead to high-risk situations. The critical factor is bonding; without effective bonding, infants will not become attached to their primary caregivers. Evidence indicates that the first few years of life are crucial to healthy human development. Unattached children, or "trust bandits," are examples of what inadequate attention to the needs of children and families can cause. In dealing with high-risk situations of children and their caregivers, the book addresses parenting, genetics, and crime and these issues are vitally connected to child development. Section one explores the disease of psychopathy, while section two explains attachment and why it is important for developing children. Section three talks about the changing roles within the American family and how this trend may endanger children. Section four discusses state-of-the-art treatment for unattachment. 213 references.