Recalled parental bonding, adult attachment style, and personality disorders in child molesters: A comparative study

This article studies recalled parental bonding, adult attachment style, and personality disorders in child molesters and reports on the findings of two separate studies. The first study examines differences between a group of 84 child molesters and 80 matched normal control subjects. This study foun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of forensic psychiatry & psychology 2005-09, Vol.16 (3), p.445-458
Main Authors: Bogaerts, S, Vanheule, S, Declercq, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
attachment
Biological and medical sciences
Child abuse
Child molesters
Clinical psychology
Empirical research
empirical study
Family studies
Medical sciences
Paedophilia
Parent-child relations
Parental attachment
Parental bonding
Personality disorders
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotherapy
Regression analysis
Sex offenders
Sexual abuse
Sexual behavior disorders. Psychogenic sexual dysfunctions
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Summary:This article studies recalled parental bonding, adult attachment style, and personality disorders in child molesters and reports on the findings of two separate studies. The first study examines differences between a group of 84 child molesters and 80 matched normal control subjects. This study found that the antisocial and the schizoid personality disorders are typical for the molester group, and that at an interpersonal level this group can be typified by recollections of an uncaring father and mother, recollections of an elevated level of autonomy emanating from the father, and insecure current attachment patterns. The second study compares a subgroup of personality-disordered child molesters to a subgroup without personality disorders. This study revealed that recollections of the role of the father in parenting are decisive. The personality-disordered group reports that the father was both more uncaring and granted more autonomy. Regarding current adult attachment style, an avoidant and anxious-ambivalent attachment style characterised the disordered subgroup. We argue that the results can be useful for treatment. Since recalled parental experiences play a role in the development of personality disorders and child molestation, psychotherapists should integrate interpersonal tools into treatment, especially in therapeutic work with child molesters who received less parental sensitivity and suffer from personality disorders.
ISSN:1478-9949
1478-9957
DOI:10.1080/14789940500094524