Attachment System Theory Application

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Family life can sometimes be perceived as chaotic and unreasonable when faced with challenges. However, from a systems theory perspective, these erratic behaviors can often be explained by the interdependent workings of the family itself and reveal reason within chaos. Applying the attachment theory to this theory, an explanation for a child’s reactions within the situation and in the future can be attributed to the relationship between the caregiver and the child. When considering the day I left my mother’s drug use in Mississippi for my father’s family in Florida, it is difficult to see reason in why I eventually moved back to Mississippi. However, looking back at our first Florida family dinner and the conversations each Hollowell had to contribute, I notice how withdrawn I was from the varying degrees of support. By applying both the attachment and the systems theory I analyze not only my family but also myself and learn why I behave the way I do today. My story begins in Mississippi and travels a total of 736 miles to the sunshine state of Florida. Living with my mother for twelve years I witnessed the entire cycle of a drug addict from usage to withdrawal to getting clean and eventually always relapsing. It was after two weeks of missing school and taking care of her newborn while she was with a boyfriend taking a Xanax vacation that I called my grandparents in Florida and asked them to come get me. Nine hours later they were there and nine hours more I was in my new home. That night we sat around the dining room table, my grandparents, my uncle, my father and myself, and had our first Hollowell family dinner. The concept of a family dinner was entirely new to me. Each member of the family had some variation of an explanat... ... middle of paper ... ...an effort to change them into positive reactions. I sincerely hope I am successful in these attempts in order to break the cycle of unhealthy attachment and eventually am able to hold a relationship with my own child that never leads them to feel unwanted. Works Cited Marvin, R. S., (2003). Implications of Attachment research for the field of family therapy. In P. Erdman, & T. Caffery (Eds.), Attachment and family systems: Conceptual, empirical, and therapeutic relatedness (3-27). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge. Galvin, K. M., Bylund, C. L., & Brommel, B. J. (2012). Family communication: Cohesion and change (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Howe, D., Brandon, M., Hinings, D., & Schofield, G. (1999). Attachment theory, child maltreatment and family support: A practice and assessment model. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

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