Attachment, the Development of the Self, and Its Pathology in Personality Disorders

Abstract

This paper puts forward an attachment theory model of severe personality disturbance. It is suggested that (1) secure attachment is the basis of the acquisition of metacognitive or mentalizing capacity; (2) the caregiver's capacity to mentalize may foster the child's bonding with the parent; (3) maltreatment, early trauma, and deprivation may undermine the acquisition of a mentalizing capacity; (4) symptoms of borderline personality disorder may arise as a consequence of inhibited mentalizing; (5) violent crime and antisocial personality disorder may be possible because the capacity to reflect upon the mental states of the victim is compromised; (6) psychotherapeutic work may facilitate the reactivation of this inhibited capacity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)from the chapter