Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre (MATC): A practicum review analysis of an attachment-based intervention for treating mentally ill at-risk youth in residential care

Attachment theory has important implications for the criminological discipline. The quality of the relationship experienced between an infant and their primary attachment figure is central for the child's development. This mutually interacting environment leads to the development of an internal working model of relationships. The internal working model forms the basis for the social behaviour of that individual throughout their life. This conceptualization of attachment theory has direct treatment implications; successful preliminary results from the Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre (MATC) have been consistently demonstrated. Based on a practicum experience, working as a child-care counselor at the MATC, recommendations have been presented to increase the effectiveness of their programming. Attachment provides a theoretically supported intervention technique that aids in increasing healthy familial interactions, thus reducing the symptomatology of conduct disorder and the future risk of delinquency.