Indiscriminate friendliness and terror of strangers in infancy: Contributions from the study of infants in foster care

Indiscriminate friendliness toward strangers and severe stranger anxiety ha ve been described in the diagnostic literature on disorders of attachment ( e.g., American Psychiatric Association, 1994; Lieberman & Pawl, 1998; Zeana h, 1996; Zeanah, Mamman & Lieberman, 1993). In this paper we present case s tudies of infants in foster care who have demonstrated indiscriminate frien dliness and terror of strangers. Infants in foster care have endured attach ment-related traumas well beyond the experience of most babies, including e motionally unavailable caregiving, physical and sexual abuse at the hands o f caregivers. and the inevitable disruption in caregiving inherent in foste r care placement. We assert that in some cases, such extreme circumstances force foster infants to develop anomalous coping mechanisms, particularly i n situations that threaten the attachment system, such as the approach of a stranger. This population of infants thus provides an unfortunate opportun ity to address questions of how disorders of attachment develop. We suggest possible explanations for the related phenomena of indiscriminate friendli ness and terror of strangers.