Introduction

One of the most important insights is that attachment theory has given the belief that children are not born delinquent or neurotic and their wills do not need to be broken, but they can become dis-functional when the conditions of their upbringing are chaotic and unstable or cruel. When it comes to understanding some of the anxieties surrounding the experience of adoption the expansion of Bowlby’s attachment theory into the world of neuroscience has been most illuminating. Neuroscientists have discovered a vital link between the synchrony of the infant brain and the brain of the mother, rhythmically beating together, as it were. The author has always felt that Bowlby’s attachment theory redressed an imbalance in the delicate demarcation between the conceptualisation of the inner and outer world of psychological theory. The chapter also provides an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.