Adult Attachment Representations and Body Image

In modern literature, the body image is interpreted as a multidimensional construct, which is considered important for both individual development and quality of life. The body image is central to the self-concept and has important consequences for mental functioning. A negative body image can result in adverse psychosocial consequences for both sexes. For a long time in the professional literature the study of socio-cultural factors on the development of the body image has prevailed. This line of research creates social constructivism, in which the earliest attachment relations are eliminated, and instead the idea is suggested that external sources have a direct influence. The present text proposes an approach to the body image as a development construct, arising and developing in the attachment relations, related to the provision of security and protection. Attachment disturbances, as well as attachment disorganization, are defined as the inability to provide security and protection. Attachment relationships in connection with the development of body image develop through the mechanisms of reflection, sensitive responses to the child’s signals and synchronous relationships. In the first months of human life, the attachment needs are first and foremost the needs of the body, which are satisfied by the responses of the primary caregiver. The topic of body image discusses attachment disorganization, the understanding of attachment trauma, and the “enactment” of the loss on the body’s territory. Trauma always involves loss. Griefs that cannot be mourned and injuries that cannot be represented seem to be central to understanding the body’s problematization.

Space and Place: the Horror of Detachment in Emma Donoghue’s Room

Like any other work devoted to spatial criticism, the present paper attempts to crystallize the significant role of space and place in literature and literary studies. The paper offers a study of different aspects of space in Emma Donoghue’s claustrophobic novel Room (2010). Room is the story of a five-year-old boy called Jack who was born in captivity in a room and was brought up solely by his mom in a confined space. The haunting effect of space, Jack’s bond with an unknown cyberspace, his place attachment and the psychological aftermath of his detachment from room and his final trauma after being released from the room will be discussed in details in this study. However, the main challenge of this study is the concept of place attachment and the aftermath of detachment for Jack as a child protagonist. The paper then highlights the way spatial aspects create that kind of attachment. The novel will be examined within the triangle of space criticism, attachment theory and trauma theory. The study concludes by stating to what extent the psychological bond caused between man’s psyche and place creates attachment and how disruption in this attachment ends up in psychological trauma in the same person. Keywords: Attachment, Place Attachment, Disruption in Place Attachment, Trauma, Cyberspace.