Is Reflective Functioning a Mediating Factor in Secure Relationships between Parents and Children and can it prevent juvenile crime?

Memories of early relationships and attachments are coded into the brain as an internal working model These models include expectations, appraisals, and rules for processing or excluding information that remain throughout development. The process is also known as Mentalization and involves the child developing the capacity to correctly interpret the behavioral cues of others through use of reflective functioning. Children with secure attachments develop the capacity to mentalize and develop minimal psychopathology that follows them into adulthood. Insecure attachments in children are consequential due to the parent’s failure to incorporate their own reflective functioning capabilities into their child rearing practices which results in ineffective parenting.
<br>Possible consequential long term effects include: child and adult psychopathology, learning difficulties, and overall societal decline as children repeat the negative trajectories of their parents due to the failure of the parent and child to effectively use their reflective functioning abilities. These children are high risk to develop adult personality disorders, particularly Borderline Personality Disorder
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