Attachment and Shame in Gender-Nonconforming Children and Their Families: Toward a Theoretical Framework for Evaluating Clinical Interventions

Abstract

There is currently no consensus over how best to approach work with gender-nonconforming children and their families. We turn to attachment theory to develop a framework for assessing the impact of two different approaches, suggesting that new understandings of links between shame, shame proneness, depression, and identity might provide key questions to consider in developing services for these children. We outline arguments from both sides of the debate, highlighting the work of 2 leading clinicians. We suggest that supportive approaches are more consistent with an attachment-based framework while approaches aimed at correcting gender-nonconforming behavior risk increasing attachment dysfunction.

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