¶ … Bowlby suggest that secure attachment liberates, explain what he means by this phrase?
Insecurely attached individuals are forever plagued by imagined insults, slights, betrayals, and they are largely incapable of trusting that others genuinely like them, or care about them, or that they love them. They live in perpetual states of suspicion of loved ones and typically exhibit unjustified fears of losing their partners. As a result, they tend to be extremely jealous and controlling and are incapable of trusting their partners. They often lash out in anger or, alternatively, subject their partners to angry silence in response to their pursuing friendships outside of their relationship. Conversely, securely attached individuals do not presume negative characterizations about the way others feel about them and are not threatened by their partner's having other friends or doing things without them. Bowlby's suggestion is that being insecurely attached is a prison whose bars are the mistrust and fears that are figments of their imagination. Secure attachment is liberating because it does not subject either person in a relationship to loss of individuality and psychological independence.
2. Flores describes our culture as an avoidance society, giving what you know as an attachment theory, what impact might this cultural tendency have on the prevalence of addiction on our society?
To the extent that avoidance plays a role in personal psychology, any challenge to self-esteem or to psychological security would be a risk factor in behaviors that could be used to help the individual avoid confronting the unpleasant thoughts or fears. Because consumption of addictive substances is a typical form of psychological escapism, individuals faced with challenges to their happiness who are socialized in an avoidance society would be inclined to use those substances as a specific means of avoiding unpleasant thoughts and feelings. Instead of recognizing the need to examine and address their impulses or fears, individuals socialized in an avoidance society would rely on intoxicating agents to escape from anything unpleasant. In the context of attachment theory, the insecurely attached individual who experiences negative thoughts or fears related to insecure attachment would resort to alcohol or drug use instead of examining those impulses with the intention of possibly resolving those psychological tendencies.
