Attachment Security and the Social World - by A Sochos (Paperback)

About the Book

"Antigonos Sochos develops the notion of attachment from a dyadic phenomenon to a collective one. He proposes that, like individuals, social groups also collectively seek protection and security in reference to their ideologies and social institutions. Social groups that are informed by collective attachment representations underpinned by insecurity tend to construct ideological and institutional systems that cannot make them feel genuinely safe. Such groups are likely to resort to ideological rigidity, insularity, dysfunction, and conflict with other groups. Insecure collective attachment is typically constructed in reference to social experiences of coercion, violence, and trauma. This book explores the American-led response to the 9/11 attacks and argues that this was a response predominantly guided by insecure collective attachment representations. As the attacks activated collective attachment, the American and other western societies drew on their long social history of coercion, violence, and trauma only to construct an incoherent collective attachment narrative and engage in ineffective protective action. With an overview of older essential studies and new contributions to the field, this book extends attachment theory by demonstrating how it can inform wider socio-cultural phenomena"--

Book Synopsis

With an overview of the existing attachment theory literature and new contributions to the field, this book proposes that social groups seek protection and security as they collectively construct their ideologies and social institutions. In doing so, the book extends attachment theory to show how it can inform wider socio-cultural phenomena.

About the Author

Antigonos Sochos is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Bedfordshire, UK. He is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. His main academic interests lie in attachment theory and the integration of psychodynamic and social psychological approaches.