Attachment, Emergent Morality, and Aggression: Toward a Developmental Socioemotional Model of Antisocial Behaviour

1997/11/01 by Marinus H. van IJzendoorn · 172 citations
Psychology · #Attachment and Relationship Dynamics #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Child Abuse and Trauma #Socioemotional selectivity theory #Psychology #Developmental psychology #Aggression #Morality #Moral development #Juvenile delinquency #Social psychology

paper · doi:10.1080/016502597384631

published in International Journal of Behavioral Development 21(4), 703-727 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 1997/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

Does attachment play a role in the development of moral reasoning and antisocial behaviour? In this contribution we discuss the role of attachment relationships in the development of early precursors of morality and antisocial behaviour, in particular compliance and aggression in infancy and in childhood. Findings are presented on the role of attachment representations in the development of morality, authoritarianism, and criminal behaviour in adolescence and young adulthood. For heuristic purposes, two socioemotional models of the development of mild and serious types of antisocial behaviour are proposed in which attachment is a prominent feature.

Citations

• Impact of parental discipline methods on the child's internalization of values: A reconceptualization of current points of view.
• Security in Infancy, Childhood, and Adulthood: A Move to the Level of Representation
• Clinic referral for oppositional defiant disorder: Relative significance of attachment and behavioral variables
• Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy.
• A Longitudinal Study of the Roots of Preschoolers' Conscience: Committed Compliance and Emerging Internalization

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