Failed mourning in the Adult Attachment Interview: the case of Holocaust child survivors

In the present study attachment theory was used as a conceptual framework to investigate the long-term effects of the Holocaust on child survivors. Child survivors who as children lost both mothers and fathers as a result of the Holocaust (N=48), were administered the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) in their late adulthood. They were expected to display enduring disorganization from their horrible experiences with loss of attachment figures, and indeed the results confirmed the lasting effects of the Holocaust on the survivors who displayed a very high rate of unresolved loss (U; 42%). At the same time, however, a number of child survivors (n=4) displayed clear markers of failed mourning that might be seen as another alternative to unsatisfactory completion of the mourning process (integral part of the traditional U-category). Such markers were never discussed in length by the traditional coding system of the AAI. The implications of viewing failed mourning as part of unresolved loss are discussed.