Attachment in adolescents who committed crimes: a study in re-educational communities

In this study was used for the first time the Attachment Movie Test (AMT), a new instrument to evaluate specific dimensions of attachment. This test uses various filmed scenes that put the subject in a condition of moderate stress. In this way the Internal Working Models relative to attachment (as unconscious cognitive schemes evidentiated by conditions of insecurity) are better evaluated. AMT has proven to be particularly suitable for adolescents and young adults. Authors hypothesized that: - adolescents who are residents in re-educational communities (Experimental Group) show a significantly higher rate of insecure attachment when compared to other adolescents who live in their families (Control Group). - AMT correlates with other attachment tests and evaluates some specific dimensions of adolescent attachment.