Valuing attachment: a research-based evaluation of services provided by Keys Childcare Limited

Huntington, A; Shardlow, SM; Sudbery, J

Abstract

Final report of this project whose aims were to describe and evaluate experiences and perceptions of social and psychotherapeutic provision (including outcomes) offered by Keys Attachment Centre. Keys Attachment Centre provides therapy for people diagnosed as suffering from Attachment disorder. Its aims are to provide "an inclusive therapeutic service within a safe secure residential living environment" for people whose early traumatic life experiences have impacted on their ability to form positive reciprocal relationships.

Therapies for children and young people using ‘holding’ as an intervention (as Keys does) for severe difficulties with attachments are controversial. The views of a range of stakeholders (including children, young adults who had previously used the service, purchasers, outside professionals, and staff) about this service were collated directly by interview. This limited study, as reported subsequently in the peer-reviewed research paper by the investigators (Sudbery, Shardlow, Huntington, 2009), can refine the broader debates surrounding the therapeutic approach used by the service. Proponents argue that the service offered provides effective assistance for some of the most hurt and difficult children in society. Opponents state that some of the techniques involved have not been evaluated, are ethically questionable and are not based on a validated theoretical mechanism.

The research design does not allow for a formal evaluation of effectiveness. With these cautions,however, the evaluative material in the study is clearly predominantly
positive, with only small ‘outlier’ responses in some sections identifying the negative indicators. The results are in the researchers’ views more positive than would be
reasonably predicted about welfare or therapeutic interventions by experienced workers

Citation

Huntington, A., Shardlow, S., & Sudbery, J. (2004). Valuing attachment: a research-based evaluation of services provided by Keys Childcare Limited

• Report Type: Project Report
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2004
• Deposit Date: Feb 24, 2010
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