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Attachment Theory And Wellbeing For The Young Person In Residential Care: The Provision Of A Second Chance Secure Base For The Child In Crisis, Gay Graham

Articles

Aristotle argued that happiness for humans is not possible in the absence of reciprocal, affective relationships or friendships (Sherman 1991). Such relationships for children are only possible in the context of satisfactory attachments which provide for them a secure base from which to explore their environment (Bowlby 1988). Young people placed in the child welfare system, particularly those in residential care, often experience a system that is problem focused, intent on physical protection and control, where warm reciprocal relationships are not prioritised. This paper states that young people in residential care, whose primary attachments, whatever their quality, have been disrupted; …