Mario Mikulincer, Phillip R. Shaver: Attachment in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics and Change: The Guilford Press, New York, 2007, $65.00, ISBN-13: 978-1-59385-457-7

Clin Soc Work J (2009) 37:179180

DOI 10.1007/s10615-009-0193-5

BOOK REVIEW

Mario Mikulincer, Phillip R. Shaver: Attachment in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics and Change

The Guilford Press, New York, 2007, $65.00, ISBN-13: 978-1-59385-457-7

Judith Kay Nelson

Published online: 10 February 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

Reading Attachment in Adulthood by Mikulincer and Shaver is like stepping into a classroom with two master teachers and researchers. They wrote this book because 25 years of adult attachment research needs to be summarized, organized and coherently conceptualized so that future studies and clinical interventions can build systematically on what is already known (2007, p. 29). These gifted authors, psychology professors from Israel and California, know that this can only be accomplished successfully if their readers fully appreciate the theory that spawned it, the context in which it grew, and details of its development.

To that end, the book begins by outlining the basic concepts of attachment theory. It includes an engaging account of the origins of the theory and the relationship between attachment theory and psychoanalytic theory. This chapter could stand alone as a useful introduction for students, clinicians and researchers new to attachment theory or for those who have learned it piecemeal and need a more coherent understanding.

In the second chapter, Mikulincer and Shaver, again with great clarity and attention, describe the model of attachment system dynamics that is the foundation for the remainder of the book. This model organizes three aspects of attachment: rst, the built-in human necessity for seeking proximity to an attachment gure following any threat to security; second, the life-long outcomes that emerge from repeated success in achieving proximity to an attachment gure and security; and third, the secondary attachment strategies that develop when the primary strategy is not successful due to unreliable, unavailable or unresponsive attachment gures.

One of the secondary attachment strategies described is hyperactivation of the attachment system aimed at maximizing response from an unreliable caregiver. Another secondary attachment strategy is deactivation of the attachment system whereby self-reliance is substituted because reliable caregiving is unavailable. The success of the primary strategysuccess in proximity-seekingleads to a secure attachment style. By...