Timothy Page

Life Experiences and Vulnerabilities of Homeless Women: A Comparison of Women Unaccompanied Versus Accompanied by Minor Children, and Correlates with Children's Emotional Distress

The histories and service needs of 2 groups of homeless women, those unaccompanied by minor children (n = 46) and those accompanied by minor children (n = 22), were compared, on the basis of their responses to a biennial survey of homeless people in a midsize city in the southeast United States. Mothers of children aged 2–10 also completed a measure of stress symptoms for their children (n = 20). Irrespective of family status group, problems such as substance abuse, history of mental illness, health problems, chronicity of homelessness, and crime victimization tended to cluster together. The findings also suggest that declining and/or inadequate levels of public benefits, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and Medicaid-funded health care in particular, have adversely affected the 2 groups, particularly families with children. The young children in this sample experienced elevated levels of stress, and significant associations were found between childrens stress levels and certain risk factors of their mothers. Implications for service delivery are discussed.

Reactive attachment disorder in maltreated twins follow-up: From 18 months to 8 years

Abstract The best means for the diagnosis and treatment of reactive attachment disorder of infancy and early childhood have not been established. Though some longitudinal data on institutionalized children is available, reports of maltreated young children who are followed over time and assessed with measures of attachment are lacking. This paper presents the clinical course of a set of maltreated fraternal twins who were assessed and treated from 19 months to 30 months of age and then seen in follow-up at 3 and 8 years of age. A summary of the early assessment and course is provided and findings from follow-up assessments of the cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal functioning of each child is analysed. Follow-up measures, chosen to capture social-cognitive processing of these children from an attachment perspective, are highlighted. Finally, findings from the case are discussed from nosological and theoretical perspectives.

Song to Self: Promoting a Therapeutic Dialogue with High-Risk Youths Through Poetry and Popular Music

This article presents the implementation of a specialized poetry therapy intervention that incorporated hip-hop and rap music with high-risk youths. The use of this popular musician group work supported these young peoples use of self-disclosure. The intervention also involved creative writing as a means of encouraging connection and self-expression among an often difficult-to-engage population.

Organizational Challenges to Implementing Attachment-Based Practices in Public Child Welfare Agencies: An Example Using the Circle of Security® Model

Attachment theory has attracted the attention of public child welfare administrators hoping to implement evidence-based practices that promote positive parent–child relationships. Moving from a theoretical approach to an implemented practice is challenging. This article outlines diffusion of innovation theory as a framework to understand internal and external organizational structures that promote and impede the adoption of new ideas. Implementation of a pilot treatment model based on attachment theory and research will be discussed. It is anticipated that this synthesis of attachment practice with diffusion of innovation theory will be useful to practitioners and managers seeking to address issues of maltreatment, loss, and trauma prevalent among families in the child welfare system. Recommendations are offered for diffusing an attachment-based model into public child welfare agencies.

Attachment Themes in the Family Narratives of Preschool Children: A Qualitative Analysis

The family narratives of two preschool children (male and female) rated extremely high in social competence were compared to the narratives of two other children (also male and female) rated extremely low in social competence for differences in qualities of parent-child relationships and narrative structure. The children were participants in a larger study of parent-child relationships in post-divorce families. Three narratives of the ten-narrative Attachment Story Completion Task-Revised were analyzed qualitatively. Differences between children rated high and low in social competence were observed in areas such as the representation of problem resolutions, narrative coherence, predictable consequences for behavior, role modeling, responsiveness of parents to childrens needs, emotional expression, childrens ambivalence for caregivers, and family integrity. Implications for further research involving representations of attachment security in narrative play are discussed.

A Case Study of a Maltreated Thirteen-Year-Old Boy: Using Attachment Theory to Inform Treatment in a Residential Program

This paper presents therapeutic interventions from an attachment perspective with a thirteen-year-old boy with a history of maltreatment, living in a residential treatment facility. Attachment theory holds that accumulated memories of experiences with caregivers become organized into representational structures called “internal working models.” The guiding principles of the therapy begin with the critical role played by the individual therapist as an attachment figure. The central purposes of the therapy are conceived as promoting the restructuring of the internal working models of others to reflect expectations of trustworthiness and reliability, and models of the self as worthy to receive care. The approach described is contrasted with common approaches to residential treatment that rely on environmental behavioral contingencies, modeled on social learning theory.

Narrative story stems with high risk six year-olds: Differential associations with mother- and teacher-reported psycho-social adjustment

Childrens responses on a Narrative Story Stem Technique (NSST) were coded using scales reflecting essential attachment constructs, specifically, attachment, exploratory, sociability, and caregiving behavioral systems, as originally conceived by Bowlby (1973, 1982) and elaborated upon by his followers (Cassidy, 2008). NSST responses were examined in relation to both mother- and teacher-reported psycho-social adjustment and risk using the MacArthur Health & Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ). Forty-six children participated (average age 6 years 10 months), 19 of whom had high-risk backgrounds, and the rest demographically matched. Findings indicate that NSST scales were associated with behavior on certain HBQ scales, in expected directions. NSST responses appeared to differentiate socially competent children from children with the specific psycho-social risks of externalizing behavior problems and social isolation, according to mother-reports, on the one hand, and peer vulnerability and internalizing problems, according to teacher-reports, on the other. Implications for clinical applications are discussed.

Attachment and Personality Disorders: Exploring Maladaptive Developmental Pathways

Recent theorizing and research from an attachment perspective has begun to trace linkages between attachment in childhood and the later appearance of personality disorders. This paper contributes to this work by identifying consistencies between descriptions of insecure attachment in childhood provided by Crittenden (1995, 1997a, 1997b) and descriptions of personality disorders provided by Millon (1996). Implications for clinical assessment and intervention are discussed. In particular, understanding of dimensional characteristics shared by attachment organization and personality disorders may shed light on the differential use of primarily cognitive-behavioral and primarily psychodynamic clinical interventions.

A Social-Emotional Assessment Method for Young Children in Foster and Residential Care: The Attachment-Based Narrative Story-Stem Technique.

Summary Standardized clinical assessments from the point of view of children are rare. A standardized narrative assessment measure, developed to assess childrens perceptions of their caregiving environments, the Narrative Story‐Stem Technique (NSST), was used with two fraternal twins, age 8, with histories of severe maltreatment and multiple foster placements. Their responses to the NSST indicate that they perceived their caregiving environments as unstable and unpredictable, though in noticeably different ways. Representations of certain family strengths were also evident. The NSST can provide highly detailed information of great utility for treatment planning and intervention regarding childrens perceptions of, and experiences in, their caregiving environments.

Poetry therapy with special needs children: A pilot project

The ARC Poetry Club is a pilot project in which a poetry therapy group intervention was utilized with special needs children. In this article, information will be provided regarding the children who participated in the club, the activities that took place during each session of the club and the facilitators observations regarding group participants’ reactions to the group activities. In addition, recommendations for future poetry therapy group interventions will be made based on the authors experience as facilitator of the ARC Poetry Club.