The relationship between attachment styles and Cluster B personality disorders in prisoners and forensic inpatients

Service attachment: The relative contributions of ward climate perceptions and attachment anxiety and avoidance in male inpatients with psychosis

“…Given the predominance of insecure attachment styles, particularly avoidant, in inpatients with a diagnosis of psychosis (Dozier, Stevenson, Lee, & Valliant, 1991;Timmerman & Emmelkamp, 2006), this experience can be exacerbated by services not adequately meeting the attachment needs of this vulnerable group. Detention to an institution can be a traumatic experience, which is arguably endured by a population that, given their poor attachment histories (Dozier et al, 1991;Timmerman & Emmelkamp, 2004), find it difficult to manage distress and anxiety (Adshead, 2004).…”

“…Previous literature highlights that admission to an inpatient unit can be a stressful experience (Adshead, 2004) and given that attachment behaviours can be triggered by environmental threats and illness (Bowlby, 1977), the importance of an inpatient's attachment style in influencing their attachment to a service is highly relevant, particularly since a majority of inpatients have fragmented attachment histories (Dozier, Stevenson, Lee, & Valliant, 1991;Timmerman & Emmelkamp, 2006). In addition, the attachment system is also likely to be very important in relation to inpatients experiencing episodes of psychosis since it is triggered by and determines their help seeking behaviour during these times of psychological distress (Berry, Barrowclough & Wearden, 2008b).…”

“…Service attachment is an important idea, particularly given the higher prevalence of insecure attachment styles and poorer attachment histories of forensic inpatient populations Timmerman & Emmelkamp, 2006). found that those receiving inpatient services had significantly lower mean totals on a measure of service attachment than those receiving other services .…”

“…Nonetheless, having an awareness of inpatient attachment styles in relation to how they perceive the ward climate could be of importance given the wide range of literature that suggests that those with a diagnosis of psychosis predominantly have an insecure attachment style (Dozier et al, 1991;Timmerman & Emmelkamp, 2006), and for these individuals the psychosocial environment is thought to be very influential in the course of their condition (Holmes, 2004a) and these individuals tend to experience less satisfaction with services .…”

The SRP-II as a rich source of data on the psychopathic personality.

“…For example, Timmerman and Emmelkamp (2006) found, using a mixed sample of male inmates, forensic patients, and individuals from the general population, evidence suggesting a dismissing (i.e., Ambivalent-Worry) attachment style may be related to psychopathy; however, Brennan and Shaver (1998) described findings from an undergraduate sample that suggested attachment was unrelated to psychopathy.…”