Attachment handbook for foster care and adoption

This is a comprehensive and authoritative textbook that provides an accessible account of attachment concepts. Attachment is at the heart of family life and at the heart of foster care and adoption. This book traces the pathways of secure and insecure patterns of attachment, from birth to adulthood, exploring the impact of past experiences of abuse, neglect and separation on children's behaviour in foster and adoptive families. It explains, from an attachment perspective, the dimensions of parenting that are associated with helping children to feel more secure and fulfil their potential in the family, with peers, at school and in the community. It also tackles the key role that "keeping attachment in mind" can play in a range of areas of family placement practice, including contact. This book will be an indispensable resource for all those seeking to ensure that children in need of family care get the very best experience possible, and that foster carers and adoptive parents get the support they need and deserve.