The Attachment Network in Family Law Matters: A Developmental-Contextual Approach

A developmental-contextual framework recognizes that children continue to develop and change across the life span and are influenced by previous experiences and by their current environment, including the events and people around them.. This model is especially well suited for use in child custody evaluations. In this article, we review developmental considerations relevant to custodial decisions and consider the defining elements of an attachment bond and the organization of children's attachment networks. Recommendations for research follow. We then provide a detailed example illustrating how the model may be used and conclude with practice implications an recommendations.