ABSTRACT

The DMM is an expansion of the Bowlby-Ainsworth theory of attachment. As such, it emphasizes the importance of (1) attachment figures when children or adults feel themselves (2) threatened, especially when the threat is tied to separation from or loss of an attachment figure (Bowlby 1973, 1980). Following Bowlby, it proposes that, when attachment figures regularly do not help to resolve serious threats, there is a risk of psychopathology and criminality (Bowlby 1944a, 1944b, 1973, 1980). Further, Bowlby lays the groundwork for thinking that the manner of the child’s (3) adaptation to threat can be both beneficial in an immediate sense and detrimental for the long-term adaptation of the individual. Bowlby describes clinically, and Ainsworth provides empirical evidence, that there are individual differences in how individuals organize psychologically and behaviorally to resolve threats (Ainsworth et al. 1978). These individual difference are described as the (4) ABC patterns referred to in Parts 1 and 2 of this volume. Bowlby also emphasized the importance of (5) systemic thinking about relationships (Bowlby 1949, 1979).