…practices similar to the controversial attachment therapies, except that the actual practices are delivered by parents, often in consultation with therapists, rather than by therapists themselves. In these practices, children described as being attachment disordered are expected to comply with parental commands “fast and snappy and right the first time,” and to always be “fun to be around” for their parents (see, e.g., Hage, n.d.-a). Deviation from this standard, such as putting off chores, incompletely executing chores, or arguing, is interpreted as a sign of attachment disorder that must be forcibly eradicated. From this perspective, parenting a child with an attachment disorder is a battle, and winning the battle by defeating the child is paramount.

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Some controversial attachment therapies offer predictions that children with attachment disorder will grow to become violent predators or psychopaths unless they receive the controversial treatments. At least one attachment therapy Web site has argued that Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler, and Jeffrey Dahmer, among others, were examples of children who were attachment disordered who “did not get help in time” (Thomas, n.d.-b). These prognostications appear to fuel a sense of urgency about these children and have been invoked by some attachment therapists to justify application of aggressive and unconventional treatment techniques (Hage, n.d.-b)). However, it is critical to note that there is no empirical scientific support for the idea that children with attachment problems grow up to become psychopaths or otherwise prey on society. Much of what is known about predicting serious violent adult criminality suggests that while some violent adult criminals have a life-course persistent behavior pattern, the future predictive specificity of any childhood condition or trait appears to be quite limited (National Institute of Mental Health, 2001). In other words, although a few children with early or serious behavior problems persist on a trajectory toward severe violence, most do not. Consequently, predictions that children who are described as having an attachment disorder will grow to become psychopaths or violent criminals should be viewed with some skepticism given the results of related research.