ABSTRACT
Within the deprived, abused and traumatized child who longs to be loved and cared for is an angry fearful child who will attack any attempt to provide that care. They are insecurely attached, an attachment which ‘is sometimes fiercer than ordinary good attachment’ (Hunter 2001: 118), since the rebuff they received in past attachment seeking only increased their fear and alarm, which then heightens attachment seeking, if of a defensive kind. Their attachment means that they feel unworthy of care and they will act to confirm this view of themselves. Further, they may have identified with and internalized aspects of the inadequate parent, for example, in identification with an abusing parent (Lanyado 1999). ‘Underneath the neediness and fear of rejection are often other more malignant feelings’ (Hunter 2001: 107).
