Contenu du sommaire : Les premiers liens de l'enfant

Following the presentation of the context where attachment theory appears, the fundamental concepts of this theory are described. The second part of the article presents applications of attachment theory to couples and families and a discussion on the possible intersections between systemic approach and attachment theory.

The importance of intersubjectivity, or sharing of lived experience between persons, has been acknowledged by philosophers before psychologists. It doesn't exist without interaction. Intersubjectivity underlies language and consciousness. The discovery of mirror neurons and adaptive oscillators shows that intersubjectivity has neurological foundations. Developmental psychology reveals its psychological foundations – imitation, joint attention, intention detection. Like attachment, intersubjectivity may be considered as a motivational system. Whereas attachment regulates fear and curiosity, intersubjectivity regulates psychic intimacy and the sense of belonging to the group. They are separate, but both necessary for human survival. Intersubjectivity is not only dyadic, but groupal too, as documented by the studies of the Centre d'Étude de la Famille on affect sharing in the family – even though the processes by which this sharing is realized remain to clarify.

The study of three-way communication between infant, father and mother through the Lausanne trilogue play situation shows that family intersubjective communication follows the same developmental trajectory as dyadic intersubjective communication between infant and mother or infant and father. From a primary or direct form, it evolves to a secondary or referential form, to integrate symbolic-moral and finally narrative forms.

This paper presents a reflection about the development of the self in children, through the study of autobiographical narratives – i.e. the way the child tells who “she/he” is. Children produce narratives early in the development, even in a simple linguistic form. Narratives are first triggered when the child has lived an emotional event. The function of narratives is to integrate the various aspects of the lived event in a coherent whole. It organizes the events according to an agent, an action, a time and a place. The child learns in the interaction with significant others what events are to be told and which is the value to give to them. This social learning will in the long run shape the way the child tells who she/he is. We illustrate this process through examples of narrative interactions between mothers and children. Finally, the way conflicts in the family might disturb this learning process is discussed, as well as the consequences they might have on the development of the self.

This paper considers the interface between the concepts of attachment and intersubjectivity in light of accumulated research on infant development. Both Tomasello (l999) and Hobson (2002) have argued persuasively that the flexible human capability for sharing mental states with others reframes and revolutio-nizes our older, more highly channeled primate biological heritage. In contrast to this emphasis on discontinuity from primate to human evolution, attachment theorists have stressed the continuities between human attachment and attachment in other primates. The implications of new work on infant intersubjectivity for reframing aspects of attachment theory are first explored. Then it is argued that attachment research also has much to offer in understanding the development of joint attention and the sharing of mental states under conditions of increased emotional arousal. These potential contributions of attachment research for understanding the development of intersubjectivity are discussed in light of the author's longitudinal work demonstrating that borderline and dissociative symptoms in young adulthood are associated with deviance in the early intersubjective dialogue between mother and infant. The idea that emerges from these converging bodies of work is that fostering more collaborative forms of communication may lie at the heart of evolutionary change, developmental change, and changes resulting from psychodynamic psychotherapy.

The attachment progressively entered the sphere of human psychology. These last few years, important progress has been made in the neurobiological approach of this behavior, which varies a lot depending on the species studied. Be it maternal bond, bond between husband and wife, or attachment to the group, two peptides play a crucial role both as hormone and neuromediator: the vasopressin and the oxytocin. They act among others on two essential systems in the evolution of the species: the fear circuit and the pleasure circuit. From a neurobiological point of view, attachment is the result of complex interactions between different hormones and neurotransmitters under the influence of the genetic and environmental constraint.

In accord with Bowlby's views, research in the domain of attachment theory has been oriented more on development than on evolution. From our “pluriconstructivist” point of view, development has a phylogenetic evolution, and attachment scenarios constitute a decisive stage during the construction of the bond of cooperation. We will extend to couple therapy the clinical perspectives opened by “pluriconstructivism”.

In the present article, the authors question the place of the father as an attachment figure. First, they examine his role according to an evolutionary perspective, to determine how he can intervene in his child's development. A review of the literature reveals that fathers are as capable as mothers in taking care of their children. Nevertheless, the children preferentially turn to their mothers when distressed. The authors conclude that research methods, which are appropriate to the study of fathers, enable a better understanding of their qualities as attachment figures. Indeed, they tend to show that fathers play an essential role in their children's openness to the world.

Examining the ideas and the activities of investigation of her team, the author discusses the integration of the Attachment Theory with the systemic family approach used at the Nuovo Centro per lo Studio della Famiglia in Milan, founded by Mara Selvini Palazzoli. The experience of family treatment of child psychosis, the individual work with single parents during the family therapy and the individual session with the patients, allow to appreciate the utility of the ideas of the transmission of psychic sufferance and forms of attachment through the generations and in the formation of couple ties. The extensive presentation of two clinical examples explains the therapeutic utilization of these theoretical constructions and their necessary integration in triadic views of the relation.

Two clinical cases, a Senegalese ancestral child and an “excessively” jealous husband as a result of his paternity, are presented to discuss the dynamics of interpersonal relationships within couples and families. How is the individual situated (and does he situate himself) as well as projected (and does project himself) in the verticality of his lineage? How can a symptom be represented, narrated and contained by a family group or a cultural system? The concept of filiation enables us to define some symptoms as adaptive attachment strategies and desperate means to maintain a link when groups or individuals have been hurt in their dignity to belong.