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The relationship between attachment and offending within a South African context
International research has consistently documented a link between attachment and offending. Despite South Africa's high crime rate, research within this country's socio-political context has been limited. This current study aimed to fill this gap, by examining the association between attachment and...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Psychology
2018
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| _version_ | 1867613287405846528 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Barber, Megan |
| author2 | Wild, Lauren |
| author_browse | Barber, Megan Wild, Lauren |
| author_facet | Wild, Lauren Barber, Megan |
| author_sort | Barber, Megan |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | International research has consistently documented a link between attachment and offending. Despite South Africa's high crime rate, research within this country's socio-political context has been limited. This current study aimed to fill this gap, by examining the association between attachment and offending within a South African context. It was hypothesised that: H1, an insecure attachment would occur more frequently in offenders than non-offenders; H2, high attachment-related avoidance would be positively associated with offending; H3, high attachment-related avoidance would be positively associated with antisocial behaviour; and H4, an insecure mother attachment would be more strongly associated with offending than an insecure father or intimate partner attachment. Two groups of participants were recruited: offenders (n = 49) and a community sample (n = 63). Each participant completed a questionnaire measuring attachment to mothers, fathers, and intimate partners, as well as socio-economic status and antisocial behaviour. Using a series of statistical tests including chi-square, logistic regression, and hierarchical multiple regression, the study found support for H1 and H2, whilst rejecting H3 and H4. Overall, this study found that insecure attachment, and specifically high attachment-related avoidance, was positively associated with offending. Conversely, it was found that low avoidance was associated with antisocial behaviour and that there was no association between specific domains (mother, father and intimate partner) of attachment and offending. These results provide support for the application of attachment theory to offenders within the South African context. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/27904 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:43.673Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| publisher | Department of Psychology |
| publisherStr | Department of Psychology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/27904 The relationship between attachment and offending within a South African context Barber, Megan Wild, Lauren Clinical Psychology International research has consistently documented a link between attachment and offending. Despite South Africa's high crime rate, research within this country's socio-political context has been limited. This current study aimed to fill this gap, by examining the association between attachment and offending within a South African context. It was hypothesised that: H1, an insecure attachment would occur more frequently in offenders than non-offenders; H2, high attachment-related avoidance would be positively associated with offending; H3, high attachment-related avoidance would be positively associated with antisocial behaviour; and H4, an insecure mother attachment would be more strongly associated with offending than an insecure father or intimate partner attachment. Two groups of participants were recruited: offenders (n = 49) and a community sample (n = 63). Each participant completed a questionnaire measuring attachment to mothers, fathers, and intimate partners, as well as socio-economic status and antisocial behaviour. Using a series of statistical tests including chi-square, logistic regression, and hierarchical multiple regression, the study found support for H1 and H2, whilst rejecting H3 and H4. Overall, this study found that insecure attachment, and specifically high attachment-related avoidance, was positively associated with offending. Conversely, it was found that low avoidance was associated with antisocial behaviour and that there was no association between specific domains (mother, father and intimate partner) of attachment and offending. These results provide support for the application of attachment theory to offenders within the South African context. 2018-05-03T12:34:08Z 2018-05-03T12:34:08Z 2018 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27904 eng application/pdf Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Clinical Psychology Barber, Megan The relationship between attachment and offending within a South African context |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The relationship between attachment and offending within a South African context |
| title_full | The relationship between attachment and offending within a South African context |
| title_fullStr | The relationship between attachment and offending within a South African context |
| title_full_unstemmed | The relationship between attachment and offending within a South African context |
| title_short | The relationship between attachment and offending within a South African context |
| title_sort | relationship between attachment and offending within a south african context |
| topic | Clinical Psychology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27904 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT barbermegan therelationshipbetweenattachmentandoffendingwithinasouthafricancontext AT barbermegan relationshipbetweenattachmentandoffendingwithinasouthafricancontext |