4.1.3 BOWLBY’S MATERNAL DEPRIVATION Flashcards
what did Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis suggest and what caused it?
- result of his work into maternal care and mental health after the war
- during the 1940s and 50s children were evacuated for years
- continual disruption / prolonged separation of the attachment between infant and PCG could result in long term cognitive, social, and emotional difficulties for the infant
- originally believed the effects to be permanent and irreversible
most of this research was done in hospital
give an example and the practical applications of this
what was it like prior to Bowlby and what did he focus on?
- most of this research was done in hospital
- prior to Bowlby the focus was on good food and hygiene
- Bowlby was the first to focus on mental state
eg) Laura goes to hospital - Robertson
- she was there for 2 weeks
- was happy / outgoing prior to the stay
- over time she became unresponsive to care
-> her temporary caregiver was poor
practical application:
- parents stay in hospital -> continuity of care
- nurses shift patterns
what does the acronym ADDIDDAS stand for?
- shows the effects of maternal deprivation
Aggression
Delinquency
Dwarfism
Intellectual
Depression
Dependency
Affectionless Psychopathy
Social Maladjustment
what is affectionless psychopathy?
- is an inability to show affection or concern for others
- lack of shame or sense of responsibility
- such individuals act on impulse with little regard for the consequences for their actions
- eg) showing no guilt for antisocial behaviour
- limits the development of normal relationships and is associated with criminality
what is separation?
- refers to the child not being in the presence of the primary caregiver
- eg) nursery / school
- short term
what is deprivation?
- occurs when a bond that’s been formed is broken and an element of care is taken away
- eg) parent leaves / go to prison / death of parent
- long term
what is privation?
- where you have never had it
- cannot differentiate between deprivation and privation
- have to rely on parent and child to find out
what was the aim of the study of The 44 Juvenile Thieves?
- to investigate the long term effects of maternal deprivation
- examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deportation
what was the procedure of The 44 Juvenile Thieves?
- selected an opportunity sample of 88 children attending his clinic
- group 1 -> thief group: 31 boys and 13 girls in the theft group were
accused of stealing - group 2 -> control group: 34 boys and 10 girls were emotionally
disturbed - the 2 groups were matched for age and IQ
- the children and their parents were interviewed and tested by a psychiatrist (Bowlby), a psychologist and a social worker focusing specifically on their early life experiences
-> for signs of affectionless psychopathy
what were the findings of ’The 44 Juvenile Thieves’ study?
- 14 of the 44 could be viewed as affectionless psychopaths
- of the 14, 12 had suffered prolonged separation from others in the first 2 years
- only 5 remaining 30 ‘thieves’ had experienced separation
-> suggests link between affectionless psychopathy and deprivation - control group: 2 out of 44 had experienced prolonged separations
and none of them were affectionless psychopaths
in reference to interllectual development issues
what did Goldfarb study?
- 30 orphaned children
- 15 were fostered at 4 months old
- 15 remained in the orphanage (limited emotional care -> careers
were encouraged not to form
bonds with the children - all completed the Stanford-Binet IQ test at 12yrs old
- at age 12 the average 1Q of the fostered children was 96
- average IQ of those in the orphanage was 68
- intellectual / disability = less than 70
- Bowlby referred to this as ‘mentally retarded’
evaluate some positives of Bowlby’s theory?
supported by Harlow’s research with monkeys
- he showed that monkeys reared in isolation from their mother suffered emotional and social problems in older age
- monkey’s never formed an attachment (privation)
- grew up to be aggressive and had problems interacting with other monkeys
real life applications have been made
- in orphanages now they have to take account of emotional needs
- fostered children have to be kept in one stable home rather than being moved around
- mothers are allowed to spend more time with their babies in maternity units
- visiting hours have been extended for parents with sick kids
- they can now stay overnight
evaluate some negatives of the theory?
critics like Ritter have accused Bowlby for not distinguishing between deprivation and privation
- Rutter stresses that the quality of the attachment bond is the most important factor, rather than just deprivation in the critical period
**Bowlby assumed physical separation on its own could lead to deprivation
- Rutter argues that it’s the disruption of the attachment bond rather than the physical separation
- supported by Radke-Yarrow (1985) who found kids whose mothers suffered with depression were insecurely attached
- figure raised to 80% when this occurred in a context of poverty
shows the influence of social factors
- Bowlby didn’t take into account the quality of the substitute care
- deprivation can be avoided if there’s good emotional care after separation
- Hodges and Tizard’s research on privation / institutional care shows the effects of deprivation can be reserved
