PONTIFICA UNIV JAVERIANA, FAC PSYCH, CARRERA 5 NUM 39-00, EDIFICIO MANUEL BRICENO, BOGOTA, 00000, COLOMBIA
Abstract
Rodriguez, AF (Fresno Rodriguez, Andres); Contreras, RS (Spencer Contreras, Rosario); Castro, TR (Retamal Castro, Tania). Univ Talca, Fac Psicol, Talca, Chile.The aim of this paper is a review of the literature about the influence of child abuse on the formation of attachment representations. It describes the main theoretical assumptions about the effects of abuse on the defensive processes, memory systems and attachment strategies. These elements are discussed trough the presentation of an integrative model which is contrasted with empirical studies. It shows that child abuse affects the quality of attachment representations; however the studies do not take in to account all the complexity of the phenomenon of abuse. Theoretical issues discussed in this paper are marginally tested in the research reported
