"Breaking the Cycle" contrasts the two basic ways societies can function: the optimal approach, which most human societies through time have followed, is the Cycle of Cooperative Companionship, where children’s basic needs are met, they grow into well-functioning, cooperative community members (from neurobiology and on up), and as healthy adults, they maintain the cooperative system. Currently in the United States, the opposite pattern is in place—children’s basic needs are not met and ill-being and dysregulation ensue, creating adults who are detached and distracted and keep this Cycle of Competitive Detachment going. Not surprisingly from a transdisciplinary perspective on childhood adversity and its effects, the United Nations ranks the United States as 41st out of 41 developed countries for child and adult wellness.
Learn more about the film online.opens in new window It is also in Spanish (the six-minute film is at YouTube with subtitles in 15 languages)
Darcia Narvaez is Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, fellow of the American Psychological Association and American Educational Research Association. She employs a lifespan, interdisciplinary approach to studying evolved morality, child development and human flourishing. She blogs for Psychology Today (“Moral Landscapes”) and hosts the website