This is a comprehensive and authoritative textbook that provides an accessible account of attachment concepts. Attachment is at the heart of family life and at the heart of foster care and adoption. This book traces the pathways of secure and insecure patterns of attachment, from birth to adulthood, exploring the impact of past experiences of abuse, neglect and separation on children's behaviour in foster and adoptive families. It explains, from an attachment perspective, the dimensions of parenting that are associated with helping children to feel more secure and fulfil their potential in the family, with peers, at school and in the community. It also tackles the key role that "keeping attachment in mind" can play in a range of areas of family placement practice, including contact. This book will be an indispensable resource for all those seeking to ensure that children in need of family care get the very best experience possible, and that foster carers and adoptive parents get the support they need and deserve.

2007-09-13 Excellent all-rounder

If you are after one comprehensive, academic but also accessible text on Attachment Theory (and there are a lot of books out there on this topic) I would recommend this for parents, foster carers and also practitioners.

I particularly liked the way the book repetitively used the same structure to explain development and attachment needs for children at different ages, across different topics.

This could have been a far more impenetrable book without it's clear structure and relatively user friendly language but as it stands I found it very thorough, interesting to pick up and 'get stuck into' and full of relevant, useful studies to present a strong clear evidence base (occasionally lacking in some books on attachment theories).
It may seem a little more expensive than other texts but I think you get your money's worth as it is so comprehensive.