---

---

Patricia Crittenden - Biography

Patricia M. Crittenden studied under Mary. D. Ainsworth from 1978 until 1983, when she received her Ph.D. as a psychologist in the Social Ecology and Development Program at the University of Virginia. In addition to Mary Ainsworth's constant guidance and support, her psychology master's thesis, on the CARE-Index, was developed in consultation with John Bowlby and her family systems research, on patterns of family functioning in maltreating families, was accomplished with guidance from E. Mavis Hetherington. She also holds a Master's Degree in Special Education, with specializations in mental retardation and emotional disturbance (University of Virginia, 1969.)

Dr. Crittenden received a career achievement award for "Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Child and Family Development" from the European Family Therapy Association in Berlin in 2004. Earlier, she was awarded the Beverley Professorship at the Clark Institute of Psychiatry (Canada) in 1993-4. In 1992, she received a Senior Post-doctoral Fellowship, with a focus on child sexual abuse and the development of individual differences in human sexuality, at the Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire. In addition, Dr. Crittenden has served on the Faculties of Psychology at the Universities of Virginia and Miami and held visiting professorships at the Universities of Helsinki (Finland) and Bologna (Italy) as well as San Diego State University (USA) and Edith Cowan University (Australia). A particular emphasis in her work of the last two decades has been the protective function of cultural variation in child-rearing strategies. Her publications include empirical work, treatment applications and theory in the fields of child abuse and neglect, attachment, family systems, and the social ecology of development.

Currently, Dr. Crittenden works cross-culturally as a developmental psychopathologist developing theory and a developmentally attuned, life-span set of procedures for assessing self-protective strategies. Her most recent comprehensive publication, with her long-time colleague, Angelika Claussen, is: Crittenden, P. M. & Claussen, A. H. (Eds.) (2000). The organization of attachment relationships: Maturation, culture, and context. New York: Cambridge University Press. Her forthcoming works concern the clinical applications of the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1987, 1997), the representational basis for inadequate parenting, and the integration of family systems, cognitive, and attachment theories as well as empirical works using her Dynamic-Maturational approach to attachment theory.

---

Family Relations Institute 9481 SW 147 St. Miami, Fl 33176, USA Phone: 1 (305) 256-9110 Fax: 1 (305) 251-0806 Email: pmcrittenden@att.net

---