Attachment theory and psychoanalysis: Some remarks from an epistemological and from a Freudian viewpoint

• Published in: International journal of psychoanalysis Vol. 87; no. 6; pp. 1529 - 1548
• Main Author: Zepf, Siegfried
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 01.12.2006; Institute of Psychoanalysis; Institute of Psychoanalysis (British); Institute of Psycho-analysis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Attachment theory; Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Epistemology; Freudian Theory; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Object Attachment; Psychoanalysis; Psychoanalytic Interpretation; Psychoanalytic theories; Psychoanalytic Theory; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Theory; Human; Affect affectivity; Epistemology; attachment theory; Dynamic point of view; Theoretical model; Affective attachment; Conflict; Psychoanalysis; Critical study; Defense mechanism; Drive; Consciousness unconsciousness
• ISSN: 0020-7578; 1745-8315
• DOI: 10.1516/0C14-TM7C-1PPV-L458

The author examines Bowlby's attachment theory and more recent versions of it from an epistemological viewpoint and subjects it to questioning on whether they are in line with central concepts of Freudian psychoanalysis. He argues that Bowlby's basic tenets regarding attachment theory, which later attachment theorists never seriously questioned, do not conform to scientifi c standards, and that psychoanalytic issues such as the dynamic unconscious, internal confl icts, interaction of drive wishes and the role of defence in establishing substitutive formations are either ignored or not treated in suffi cient depth. In the light of this, Fonagy's assertion that psychoanalytic criticism of attachment theory arose from mutual misunderstandings and ought nowadays to be seen as outdated is reversed: psychoanalytic criticism can only be regarded as outdated if either basic tenets of Freudian psychoanalysis, or attachment theory or both are misunderstood.