Postgraduate Course: Attachment: Theory and Application (CLPS11065)
Course Outline
| School | School of Health in Social Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will explore the relevance of attachment theory as a risk or resilience factor in relation to mental health and well-being. |
| Course description |
Through lectures, seminars and group work (including presentations and problem-based learning) students will explore contemporary attachment theory as a framework for understanding how attachment may contribute in an interactive and dynamic to risk for, or resilience to mental health problems in children, adolescents and adults. During the course we will explore some candidate mechanisms that potentially link attachment to mental health, including brain and central nervous system functioning, concepts of self and other, affect regulation and mentalisation. Risk and resilience models will be used as a lens through which attachment can be viewed as both a risk and resilience factor.
Course content will include:
* The dynamic and interactional nature of attachment in relation to risk and resilience
* Measurement of attachment from infancy to adulthood
* Disorganised attachment and reactive attachment disorder
* Intergenerational transmission of attachment
Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to reflect on their own experience volunteering or working with children or young people.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Develop an evaluative and contemporary understanding of the evolution of attachment theory and the range of techniques used in its measurement/assessment.
- Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the nature of the relationship between attachment outcomes in children and young people, and proposed mediators of the relationship between the two.
- Critically identify, define and conceptualise the relevance of attachment theory to applied settings.
- Demonstrate the ability to synthesise complex and competing information from range of sources and present that information in a coherent manner.
- Exercise autonomy and initiative in problem-based learning in collaboration with peers.
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Reading List
Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base. East Sussex: Routledge
Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P.R. (2008). Handbook of Attachment (2nd edn). New York: Guildford Press
Gerhardt, S. (2004). Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain. East Sussex: Routledge
Howe, D. (2005). Child Abuse and Neglect: Attachment, Development and Intervention. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
Prior, V. & Glaser, D. (2006). Understanding Attachment and Attachment Disorders: Theory, Evidence and Practice (Child and Adolescent Mental Health). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Ungerer, J. & McMahon, C. (2005). Attachment and Psychopathology. In J.L. Hudson and R.M. Rapee (Eds.) Psychopathology and the Family. Oxford : Elsevier
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
* Ability to synthesise complex and competing information
* Research and enquiry skills, including evaluation and critical analysis
* Personal and intellectual autonomy skills, including accountability
and working with others
* Technical and practical skills
* Communication, numeracy and IT skills
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| Keywords | Attachment,developmental,psychology,mental health,infancy,children,adolescence |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Karen Goodall
Tel: (0131 6)51 3947
Email: Karen.Goodall@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Lorna Sheal
Tel: (0131 6)51 3970
Email: L.Sheal@ed.ac.uk |
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