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Critical Approaches to Attachment

Overview

  • Credit value: 15 credits at Level 4
  • Convenor: to be confirmed
  • Assessment: two pieces of coursework, around 1500 words each or equivalent

Module description

This module aims to introduce you to attachment theory and to critically explore how it is applied to relationships throughout the lifespan.

Indicative module content

  • What is attachment behaviour?
  • What did John Bowlby really say?
  • Researching attachment behaviour
  • Attachment and the brain
  • Relationships between infant attachment patterns and later behaviour
  • The inner world and learning
  • What happens when attachment goes wrong
  • Methods for researching adult attachment behaviours
  • Intergenerational transmission of attachment patterns
  • Couple relationships
  • Other relationships and influences
  • Therapy and interventions

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

  • describe attachment theory
  • describe research methods and findings in relation to attachment behaviour
  • recognise a range of research methods that might be appropriate to the study of this area of psychology (identifying strengths and weaknesses of core methodologies)
  • identify the ethical issues when conducting research in this area (with particular consideration of harm)
  • demonstrate an appropriate awareness of cultural considerations in the evaluation of theory and research
  • locate further information about current research and debates
  • think critically about research findings and key conceptual issues in this often controversial field of enquiry
  • discuss popular beliefs about attachment
  • discuss ways in which attachment theory might increase understanding of the emotional development both of young children and of individuals throughout the lifespan
  • discuss ways in which their knowledge of attachment theory might increase their understanding of human behaviour in close relationships
  • describe the extent to which attachment theory can explain behaviour in social relationships (both at work, in education and in more intimate settings) and the need for further research in particular areas.