Continued from part I
This is part II in a two-part blog post series looking back on ten plus years of making grants in support of Bowlbian attachment theory. Part II covers the years 2007–2012. See part I for the years 2002–2007.
2007–2008
Las Cumbres Learning Services ($800)—A 2007–2008 follow-up grant.
Cañones Early Childhood Center ($1,600)—A 2007–2008 grant focused on early childhood education.
Southwestern College ($1,600)—A 2007–2008 follow-up grant.
Many Executive Summaries in 2007:
A summary of Daphne de Marneffe’s book “The Maternal Desire—On Children, Love, and the Inner Life.” This is probably one of the best books on how feminists—both liberal and conservative—view Bowlbian attachment theory. For more help on this theme, see Dr. Susie Orbach’s 1999 article entitled Why Is Attachment In the Air?
A Summary of Ludwig von Bertalanffy’s book “General System Theory: Foundations, Development and Applications.” Dr. Ken Corvo recommended that I read this book. Ken simply said that in order to get Bowlby (and his theory) one would have to first get Bertalanffy’s naturalistic systems theory. This summary would later appear (along with a summary of a book by Gerald Midgley—see below) in my book entitled Bowlby’s Battle for Round Earth.
A Summary of the Afterword to Christopher Lasch’s book “The Culture of Narcissism—American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations.” Simply, if our culture is moving toward narcissism, then it’s moving away from empathy and a secure attachment position. Just saying.
Little Forest Nursery School ($2,500)—A 2007–2008 grant focused on early childhood education.
University of Minnesota ($20,000)—This 2007–2008 grant was designed to create the Latin American Attachment Conference. The first conference took place in February of 2008. Dr. Alan Sroufe was the lead organizer for this project. From the final report we hear, “Armed with the support of our network, many talented young people will have the tools to do effective work in these [Latin American] countries. And our visitors from Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Panama, Mexico, and Cuba took these models home with them.”
Salt Lake Children’s Center ($2,000)—A 2007–2008 follow-up grant.
Syracuse University ($10,000)—A 2007–2008 follow-up grant.
UNM Children’s Hospital ($50,000)—This 2007–2008 grant was designed to pay for a contemplation and reflection area at the new UNM Children’s Hospital where mothers and children could gather and play (especially mothers who were nursing).
Florida Atlantic University ($50,000)—A 2007–2008 follow-up grant. This grant was designed to let Dr. Jane Caputi begin work on a follow-up DVD to her earlier DVD entitled “The Pornography of Everyday Life” (see above). This new DVD project has a working title of “Green Consciousness.”
2008–2009
Las Cumbres Learning Services ($4,000)—A 2008–2009 follow-up grant.
YWCA Omaha ($20,000)—A 2008–2009 follow-up grant.
UNM Continuing Ed. ($12,000)—This 2008–2009 grant was made to defray the costs of bringing Drs. Howard and Miriam Steele—leading attachment researchers—to Albuquerque to speak at the UNM School of Medicine on the subject “Attachment Assessments: ‘A Toolbox for Intervention Work With Traumatized Families.’” This presentation took place on 02.21.09 and was organized by Dr. Marcia Landau of the NM Psychoanalytic Society.
University of Iowa ($10,000)—This 2008–2009 grant was in support of a project entitled “Impact of Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Depression and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) on Infant-Mother Attachment.” Dr. Beth Troutman is the lead researcher on this study. We recently received word that a results paper was submitted for publication.
Cañones Early Childhood Center ($5,000)—A 2008–2009 follow-up grant.
Salt Lake Children’s Center ($2,500)—A 2008–2009 follow-up grant.
Syracuse University ($10,000)—A 2008–2009 follow-up grant.
A Home Within ($10,000)—A 2008–2009 grant designed to put together a nationwide program that matches foster kids with licensed psychotherapists who will make a long-term commitment to work with a particular foster kid on a pro bono basis. Dr. Toni Heineman is organizing this project. From a grant acknowledgment letter we hear, “We all want children in the foster care system to have full access to the relationships that sustain all of us.”
Self Other World Institute ($15,000)—This 2008–2009 grant was designed to support a research project entitled “The Adult Attachment Interview and Somatic Transformation Training.” Dr. Julie Kilpatrick is the lead researcher (a former Foundation board member). This project is still underway.
NM Men’s Council for Boys & Young Men ($10,000)—This 2008–2009 grant was designed to support an annual conference centered on men and boys. These conferences tend to focus on father–son attachment relationships. Dr. Paul Golding was one of the conference organizers. Paul and I traveled to an earlier UCLA Attachment Conference specifically to hear Sir Richard Bowlby talk about fathers and attachment. The conference we supported featured Dr. Leonard Sax, author of the book Boys Adrift.
International Society for the System Sciences ($15,000)—After I read and summarized Bertalanffy’s book on General System Theory (see above), I was convinced that Dr. Covo was right: In order to get what Bowlby did, you have to get what Bertalanffy did in specific, and what the naturalistic systems theorists did in general (i.e., Konrad Lorenz, Margret Mead, Julian Huxley, Erik Erikson, and others). So, I started to look around for resources that specifically looked at the Bowlby–naturalistic systems theory connection. Believe it or not, there were none that I could find. I find this to be highly unusual. So, long story short, we made a 2008–2009 grant to the ISSS to commission an article that specifically looks at the Bowlby–systems theory connection. Dr. Gary Metcalf researched and wrote a paper entitled “John Bowlby—Rediscovering a Systems Scientist.” We tried to get this paper published but found no takers. So, it remains an unpublished manuscript. If you would like a copy, please contact us or it’s available via the ISSS web site. As an aside, Dr. Metcalf’s paper just scratched the surface of the Bowlby–systems theory connection, and we would still welcome a proposal to take on a full treatment of the subject, maybe a doctoral dissertation.
Many Executive Summaries (and one paper) in 2008:
I wrote the following unpublished paper: “Bowlby’s two ‘Buzzkills’: The Risk of Moving Maternal Desire and Human Bonding from Vitalism to Scientific Understanding.”
A Summary of David Anderegg’s book “Nerds—Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them.” This is where you begin to see an interesting push-back against the mindfulness agenda of Bowlbian attachment theory. Simply, Dr. Anderegg argues that those kids (and adults) who are on the autism spectrum (i.e., ADHD or Asperger’s) are not good at being mindful. As autism researcher Simon Baron-Cohen tells us in his 1999 book Mindblindness, people on the autism spectrum tend to have a compromised Theory of Minds (ToM). Anderegg takes issue with the mindfulness agenda oppressing or marginalizing people on the autism spectrum. I have to say, he has a point, one I think Bowlbians should consider (especially if they are truly mindful). Anderegg (and others like social critic Richard Florida) point out that increasingly our economic leaders will fall on the autism spectrum. Current examples would be Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jerry Yang.
A Summary of a Book Chapter entitled “The Socialization of Reproduction and the Collapse of Authority” from Christopher Lasch’s book “The Culture of Narcissism—American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations.” Lasch is a conservative writer. In his view, as more and more of reproduction is socialized (i.e., day care, pre-K, schools, etc.), the net effect will be more insecure and narcissistic kids (and, eventually, adults). Lasch essentially argues that secure attachment can only take place in the private home, not in socialized care. These conservative critics point out what can only be called a “liberal dilemma.” Here’s how conservative critic Allan Carlson describes the liberal dilemma:
[T]here is mounting evidence that … child care may be a human activity that cannot be industrialized. The psychological evidence is overwhelming, and still mounting, that children in extended day care—even very good day care—are on average more aggressive, less sociable, and less emotionally secure: traits that, ironically, undo the key socialist goal of enhanced human cooperation [and empathy].
Again, I think this is a position that Bowlbians should take the time to consider (which is why I wrote the Lasch summary).
A Summary of Carl Jung’s book “Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies.” I wrote this summary because Louis Cozolino mentioned that there is an attachment–alien abduction connection. Jung’s book looks at the alien sighting/abduction archetype. Request a copy of my summary to see what I found out.
A Summary of Jeremy Rifkin’s book “The End of Work—The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era.” On a simple level, job loss is a huge loss that will inevitably trigger the attachment behavioral system. I wrote this summary mainly because of this job loss–attachment behavior connection. But something else amazing came out of this summary: Rifkin suggests that Norbert Wiener’s cybernetic or mechanical form of system theory (which led to widespread automation) is at the heart of the current unemployment epidemic. Why is this amazing? Well, Wiener’s mechanical system theory competed with Bertalanffy’s naturalistic system theory. It appears that Bertalanffy lost (which means that Bowlby’s theory has lost as well). For more on the mechanical versus naturalistic system theory struggle that took place during the 1950s and 60s (a struggle that Bowlby was caught up in), see Debora Hammond’s 2003 book entitled The science of synthesis—Exploring the social implications of General Systems Theory. (As an aside, I did approach Dr. Hammond about taking on the Bowlby–systems connection in ernest but she declined.)
2009-2010
Tulane University ($25,000)—This 2009–2010 grant was made in support of a project entitled “The Family Connections Project.” Dr. Marva Lewis is the lead researcher on this project. Honestly, I’m not sure the board would have made this grant had they not first read my summary of Robin Dunbar’s book entitled Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language. (See part I for a description of my Dunbar summary). Again, Dunbar suggests that grooming in the primate world is the foundation upon which attachment behavior sits. Dr. Lewis’ project was designed to look at how hair combing practices within African American families promotes secure attachment. This project is still underway.
Santa Fe Children’s Museum ($10,000)—This 2009–2010 grant was simply about giving kids a safe and secure place to play and learn, especially learn about the natural environment (which tapped into my roots as a geologist). This grant is where we started an interest in what is known as Experiential Education (Ex. Ed.). Richard Louv wrote a 2005 book entitled Last Child in the Woods—Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder. Richard talks about how there is a connection between mothers and nature (e.g., mother nature). Louv argues that if kids don’t attach to mother, they will have a hard time attaching to nature. Feminists have fired back saying, 1) we don’t care for the mother–nature link, and, 2) it’s fathers who should be taking kids into the outdoors. This is an interesting theme that has huge attachment implications. Louv argues that the main reason kids are hyperactive is because they aren’t allowed to play in nature. So, rather than take them into the outdoors, we feed them powerful behavioral drugs to make them compliant.
University of Minnesota ($8,500)—A 2009–2010 follow-up grant.
Salt Lake Children’s Center ($2,500)—A 2009–2010 follow-up grant.
Save the Children ($20,000)—This 2009–2010 grant was designed to support a project entitled “Child Safe Zones in Haiti.” Following the Haiti earthquake, there was concern that children would fall prey to child traffickers (already a concern before the earthquake hit). These safe zones were set up so that children would be safe from traffickers. These safe zones would also make it easier for parents to find their lost children.
Syracuse University ($10,000)—A 2009–2010 follow-up grant.
The Menninger Clinic ($5,000)—This 2009–2010 grant was made to the Adolescent Assessment and Treatment Program, which is a part of the Menninger Clinic in Houston, TX. From the grant acknowledgment letter we hear, “There is no doubt that a healthy attachment relationship can make all the difference in the healing process of mental illness.”
All Faiths Receiving Home ($15,000)—No longer involved with the First Strike Campaign (see part I), this 2009–2010 grant was in support of a home visitation program entitled “First Time Parent Home Visit Program.”
Executive Summaries in 2009:
A Summary of a Lecture entitled “A Death in the Family—The Logic of Grief” from Professor Robert C. Solomon’s lecture series “The Passions; Philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotions.” Sure, Bowlby was successful in promoting attachment behavior to the level of a behavioral or motivational system, but is there any logic to these motivation, these attachment behaviors? Sure, they try to keep us safe and secure, but is that it? Dr. Solomon tries to get us to wrap our heads around the possibility that when attachment motivations reach the level of psychology, they take on a fascinating property: they express a motivation to achieve the impossible—to be reunited with a departed loved one. So, the logic of grief can motivate the logic of success—to achieve the impossible. This lecture by Dr. Solomon is one of my favorite audio recordings. I’ve listened to it many times. Sadly, Dr. Solomon has passed on or I would have loved to have heard him speak in Albuquerque.
A Summary of Gerald Midgley’s book “Systemic Intervention—Philosophy, Methodology, and Practice.” I read and summarized this book because Dr. Metcalf recommended that I do so. During the writing of John Bowlby—Rediscovering a Systems Scientist (see above), I asked Dr. Metcalf what has happened to Bertalanffy’s system theory since its zenith in the late 1960s. He said that Midgley’s book has a good recap. Turns out that Bertalanffy’s theory went from being biology-based (phase one), to sociology-based (phase two), to being an emancipatory theory (phase three). It was at this point that I decided to combine together my Bertalanffy and Midgley summaries in the form of a self-published book (with the board’s approval). My book is entitled, “Bowlby’s Battle for Round Earth—Summaries of Bertalanffy and Midgley Revealing the Systems–Attachment Theory (Dis)Connection.” You can find Bowlby’s Battle on Amazon.com.
A Summary of Kay Hymowitz’s book “Ready or Not: Why Treating Children as Small Adults Endangers Their Future—and Ours.” Over and over in his trilogy, Bowlby tells us that treating young children as adults is a surefire way to encourage insecure attachment. I summarized Hymowitz’s book because she essentially says that treating kids as adults is epidemic in our culture. Hymowitz mentions Lasch’s book The Culture of Narcissism (see above) several times and agrees that treating children as adults is an unintended consequence of outsourcing or socializing care. Again, I think this is a message that Bowlbians should pay attention to.
2010–2011
It was in this timeframe that the Foundation
started its Bowlby Less Traveled blog site.
Cambridge Health Alliance ($25,000)—This 2010–2011 grant allowed for a second phase to be conducted in connection with the 2006–2007 grant (see part I) we made in support of a project entitled “Neurobiological Effects of Disorganized Attachment: A FMRI Study.” Once again, the lead researcher on this project was Dr. Karlen Lyons-Ruth.
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep ($3,000)—This 2010–2011 grant was designed to create a set of training manuals for photographers who take pictures of infants who have passed on. The idea was that the pictures would be used, when the time was right, as a part of the mourning process. These manuals were completed and made available via the group’s web site (password required).
Northern NM Birth Center ($2,000)—This 2010–2011 grant was a “look see” grant designed to let the group look at whether they wish to use Bowlbian attachment to guide their efforts. Northern NM Birth Center ended up writing an executive summary of Robert Karen’s book entitled Becoming Attached. Sadly, Karen’s book, written almost 20 years ago in 1994, is still the only good book I know of that has the potential to introduce Bowlbian attachment theory to a popular audience.
Executive Summaries in 2010:
A Partial Summary of an Edited Volume entitled “Critical Thinking About Psychology—Hidden Assumptions and Plausible Alternatives.” This edited volume blew me away. Dr. Ken Corvo recommended that I read it. One of the chapters is on the anti-God bias of developmental science and how it got set up. Well, Bowlbian attachment theory is essentially a developmental theory. In the same way that Darwin’s theory of evolution is often looked at as being anti-God, so too developmental science. Lets face it, Darwin was a big influence on Bowlby. So, if you embrace Bowlby, you better be willing to also embrace Darwin and developmental science. Some find that embracing Darwin and developmental science carries with it a huge bias, a largely hidden bias.
A Summary of the Chandra Ippen-Ghosh workshop “Understanding How Attachment, Culture, and Trauma Shape Engagement and Service Provision” held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 26, 2010 (blog format—click here to access part one). This summary marks my move away from the written summary format to the blog summary format. I should point out that Dr. Ippen-Ghosh was speaking in front of an audience made up mostly of home visitation paraprofessionals and professionals.
Albuquerque Academy ($6,125)—This 2010–2011 grant was in support of the Experiential Education Department at Albuquerque Academy.
Texas Tech University ($25,000)—This 2010-2011 grant was made in support of a project entitled “Attachment & Neurophysiological Correlates.” This is a brain scan study being led by Dr. Kazuko Behrens (who studied under Mary Main—the developer of the AAI). This study is still underway.
A Home Within ($25,000)—A 2010–2011 follow-up grant.
The Children & Nature Network ($25,000)—This is essentially Richard Louv’s group (see above) dedicated to getting kids (and families) back out into and connected (attached) with nature. This grant resulted in a manual entitled “Together in Nature—Pathways to a Stronger, Closer Family.” Richard contributed to the manual as well as Drs. Sara St. Antonie and Cheryl Charles. The appendix to the manual contains a Q&A on parent-child attachment written by Dr. Marti Erickson of the University of Minnesota. Contact us and we would be happy to send you a copy. As an aside, I nudged a little on a few points made in the manual.
Salt Lake Children’s Center ($2,500)—A 2010–2011 follow-up grant.
Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) Foundation ($20,000)—This 2010–2011 grant was made in support of the First Born home visitation program. The LANL Foundation hosted the Ippen-Ghosh workshop mentioned above.
Syracuse University ($10,000)—A 2010–2011 follow-up grant.
St. Martin’s Hospitality Center ($15,000)—One of the larger homeless shelters in the Albuquerque area providing food, clothing, and shelter to the homeless. They also have a large behavioral health department, and job training department. It may sound simple but secure attachment starts with the basics: ready access to food, clothing, and shelter.
Cañones Early Childhood Center ($1,800)—A 2010–2011 follow-up grant.
Advocacy Inc. ($25,000)—This was an interesting project. We so liked their application narratives that we asked permission to use them as models. From the proposal we hear:
When a parent is unable or unwilling to care for a child, the family often steps in to care for the child; however, due to underlying substance abuse or mental health issues, the parent, instead of allowing a responsible person to care for their child, may use the child as leverage to get the family to support bad habits. So, the child is left with family and often the parent threatens or does remove the child unless the parent’s demands are met, placing the children in a precarious and traumatic situation. The child is prevented from forming a healthy attachment with the caregiver and the caregiver is helpless to stop the behavior and has no legal right to interfere with parental custody. When the family is powerless to stop the parent from removing or endangering the child, the State may take custody of the child, resulting in foster care and often multiple placements, further affecting the child’s ability to attach. The PROJECT was created to prevent this situation.
2011–2012
Bowlby’s Battle for Round Earth Is Self-Published
Executive Summary in 2011:
A Summary of the Michael Ceo workshop “Couples and Affairs: Managing the Clinical Challenges” held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 13, 2011 (blog format—click here to access part one). I summarized this workshop mainly because the presenter said that he would place affairs within an attachment framework. Overall I think Dr. Ceo did a good job. However, I was a bit stunned when Dr. Ceo told the audience that attachment theory was developed in the US by neurobiologists such as Dan Siegel, Allan Schore, and Louis Cozolino, back in the late 1990s. I sheepishly raised my hand and said that John Bowlby developed attachment theory in the UK starting back in the 1960s. But I think this points out a sad trend—Bowlby is rarely if ever talked about at attachment conferences anymore. So, I can see where Dr. Ceo got the impression that the second generation of attachment researchers is in fact the first. You don’t see Freud getting dissed like this at psychoanalytic conferences. Just saying.
Namaste Children’s Services ($5,000)—This is a “look see” grant made in 2011–2012. I believe a group from Namaste went to the 2012 Salt Lake Attachment Conference.
University of Minnesota ($10,000)—A follow-up grant made in 2011–2012.
Animals & Society Institute ($5,000)—This 2011–2012 grant was made in support of a project to update the manuals that were created back in 2003–2004 (see part I). Back then this group was known as Psychologists for Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Cottonwood Gulch Foundation ($1,000)—This 2011–2012 grant was made to create the NM Experiential Education Collaborative. This effort is underway.
Children’s Grief Center of NM ($5,500)—This 2011-2012 grant was made to defray the costs associated with the grief therapy groups that are held regularly at the center.
Salt Lake Children’s Center ($2,500)—A follow-up grant made in 2011–2012.
Nicholas Carr RYOL Lecture (Direct Charitable Activities, $23,000)—Last but certainly not least is the recent lecture by Nicholas Carr. Nick came to Albuquerque to speak on his 2010 book “The Shallows—What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains.” I have written extensively about this lecture on this blog site. Here’s a link to the summary I wrote. Very simply, Carr suggests that heavy Internet use keeps the brain from developing robust Executive Functions (EF), which are mostly associated with the upper brain regions like the prefrontal cortex. Well, EF functions are associated with such things as planning, cognitive models (like Bowlby’s Inner Working Model), delaying gratification, focusing attention, shifting attention, perspective-taking, empathy, mindfulness, and the list goes on. Simply, Bowlby said that (if all goes well) early safe and secure attachment relationships could play a large role in developing EF skills (not that he used this term), like empathy and being mindful. So, what Carr is suggesting is that even though there may be this early foundation of safe and secure attachment, later heavy Internet use could undo all of that. Scary eh? That’s why we invited Mr. Carr to come and speak.
Our Trip Down Attachment Memory Lane Comes to a Close
I hope you have enjoyed this quick trip through ten plus years of making grants in the world of Bowlbian attachment theory. Of course many other grants were made that were not mentioned here, many of which have at least a casual connection to Bowlbian attachment theory. To sum up, here’s a snapshot view of the last ten plus years:
- Approximately 100 grants were made
- Approximately 1.2 million dollars in grants went to organizations
- Approximately 14 groups received a copy of When the Bough Breaks
- Approximately seven educational or training manuals were created
- One DVD program was created (and another started)
- One think tank was created
- Approximately five workshops or courses were supported or put on
- Approximately 50 scholarship grants for attachment conferences were made
- Approximately seven attachment-related conferences were supported
- Approximately 17 articles were published or are in print
- Approximately 23 executive summaries were written and distributed
- Two book projects were supported
- Approximately 20 copies of Bowlby’s Battle have been sent to groups
Not bad for a decade’s worth of work for a small foundation. I wonder what the next decade will bring….
I’d like to thank all of the staff, consultants, and board members who have played such a large role in reviewing, approving, and tracking these grants. (For a complete listing of staff, consultants, and board members, see the Acknowledgments section of Bowlby’s Battle.) Even though we’re moving on, we’ll always have a soft spot for Bowlby’s theory. There are two areas where we might be easily nudged back to a focus on Bowlbian attachment:
1) Taking on a full treatment of the Bowlby–naturalistic systems theory connection. (Honestly, Bowlby’s Battle is a very long RFP for such a project and should serve to get you going.)
2) Creating a training program that would train Bowlbian attachment researchers to be public intellectuals. Simply, Bowlbian attachment theory lacks public intellectuals. Sir Richard Bowlby may be the lone exception. A paucity of public intellectuals who can sell science to the general public is a huge systemic problem. This is a critical problem in the area of global warming where in spite of tons of data in support of global warming, only about 40% of the general population believes it, and an even smaller percentage who wish to do anything about it.
Well, there’s a group doing something about this in the area of global warming. Welcome to the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, a program of the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. This program is designed to put doctoral level environmental scientists through a five-year training program so that they can become public intellectuals and fight for reductions in the causes of global warming. Here’s a popular article that talks in part about the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program:
“Groups Call for Scientists to Engage the Body Politic”
After learning about the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, we contacted its executive director, Pam Sturner. Pam said that most of the funding for the program comes from Stanford (via a 500K multi-year grant from The Packard Foundation). She did allow that it costs about $5,000 to send one scientist through the entire training program, and about 20 fellows go through the program each year. I asked Pam if scientists outside of environmental science could go through the program. She said effectively, “not yet, but maybe in the future.” Pam did tell me that she would be willing to help any group or university that wishes to set up a similar public intellectuals training program to serve another area of science. I did ask Pam this question: “Is there anyone right now (September of 2011) who can put out your message, who has the credibility within environmental sciences, and who the general public listens to?” Pam simply replied, “No.”
So, if either of the two above areas interests you at all, feel free to contact us and lets chat.
Oh, “What about the Bowlby Less Traveled blog?” you ask. Well, we’ll keep it up and use it for themes that might have an attachment connection. We’ll use it for “Bowlby’s Ghost” (with thanks to Ken Corvo here). But eventually we’ll probably set up a new blog area to support our new mission focus. As they say, stay tuned.
