A- Bowlby's Theory of Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

What did Bowlby propose?

Answer 1

Proposes that separation from the mother figure in early childhood has serious consequences for emotional and physical development.

The Maternal Deprivation theory focused on the idea that the continual presence of nurturing from the mother or mother-substitute is essential for the normal psychological development (this includes both emotional and intellectual) of babies and toddlers.

Question 2

What period did Bowlby see as the critical period for psychological development?

Answer 2

Bowlby saw the first 30 months of life as a critical period for psychological development – if a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable care and so deprived of her emotional care for an extended period during this critical period then psychological damage was not only inevitable but also lasting

Question 3

In which two ways is maternal deprivation harmful?

Answer 3

1) Intellectual development

2) Emotional development

Question 4

How does maternal deprivation impact intellectual development?

Answer 4

• Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would suffer delayed intellectual development – this would be through a very low IQ.
• Goldfarb (1947) found that children who had remained in institutions such as orphanages from a young age had much lower IQs than their counterparts who had been fostered.

Question 5

How does maternal deprivation impact emotional development?

Answer 5

• Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they could become ‘affectionless psychopaths’.
• The concept of ‘affectionless psychopathy’ is the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others.
• This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality.
• Affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions.

Question 6

Describe the procedure of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study.

Answer 6

• 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing.
• All ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy – characterised as a lack of affection, guilt and empathy.
• Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the teenagers had prolonged early separations from their mothers and had suffered maternal deprivation.
• A control group of non-criminal but emotionally disturbed teenagers was used to compare if they had also suffered maternal deprivation.

Question 7

Describe the findings of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves study.

Answer 7

• Bowlby found that 14 of the 44 thieves (30%) could be described as ‘affectionless psychopaths’.
• Of this 14, 12 (86%) had experienced prolonged separations from their mothers during the critical period.
• In contrast, the remaining thieves, (30 out of 44) only 5 (17%) had experienced separations.
• In the control group, only 2 out of 44 (5%) had experienced long separations from their mother but none were affectionless psychopaths

Bowlby concluded that maternal separation/deprivation in the child’s early life caused permanent emotional damage.

Question 8

Evaluate the maternal deprivation hypothesis. (ADVANTAGES)

Answer 8

1) ANIMAL STUDIES SHOW EFFECTS OF MATERNAL DEPRIVATION
- Levy (2003) showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development but not any other aspects of their development. This study shows that there is a grain of truth in the MDH but not as severe as Bowlby claimed.

2) Real-life application to childrearing practices:
Bowlby’s work has led to significant changes in the way children are cared for in hospitals. For example, parents are allowed visit their children more frequently and there is greater flexibility of visiting hours to ensure deprivation does not occur. This is a strength as it demonstrates the positive impact and applications Bowlby’s theory has had on child rearing practices of children in hospitals to ensure deprivation doesn’t occur

3) Further research has supported Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Theory:
- Goldfarb (1955) followed up 30 war orphaned children to age 12; half had been fostered by the age of 4 whilst the other half remained in the orphanage. At the age of 12, both groups of orphans IQ was tested. The group fostered had an average IQ of 96, whereas the group that wasn’t fostered by age 4 had an average IQ of 68. This is a strength because, Goldfarb’s findings reiterate the main assumptions of Bowlby’s theory showing that early separation and the deprivation can lead to long lasting effects on infant development and development in later life

Question 9

Evaluate the maternal deprivation hypothesis.(DISADVANTAGES)

Answer 9

1) THE EVIDENCE MAY BE POOR.
- Cofounding variables : Bowlby used children orphaned during WW2, children growing up in poor quality orphanages and his own 44 thieves study to see effects of maternal deprivation. However, this evidence can be seen as flawed since War-orphans were traumatised and often had poor after care. It could be these factors that caused all the psychological difficulties in their lives rather than separation. Similarly, children growing up in poor quality institutions were generally deprived of all care and not just maternal care.

• Investigator effects: the 44 thieves study had some major design flaws with the biggest being that Bowlby himself carried out the interviews with the thieves and their families. He would have known in advance which teenagers would show signs of psychopathy.

2) THE EFFECTS OF MATERNAL DEPRIVATION ARE REVERSIBLE (sensitive period not a critical period)
- Bowlby argued that if maternal derpivation was experienced during the critical period then the effects would be irreversible.
- But, Kulochova (1976) reported the case of Czech twin boys who were isolated from the age of 18 months to 7 years ( their stepmother locked them in a cupboard during this period). - suffered severe physical and emotional abuse
- They were then looked after by two loving adults and appeared to recover fully – this study is an example of research that shows that maternal deprivation during the critical period does not always lead to long term or permanent psychological damage.

3) CONFLICTING EVIDENCE :
- Most attempts to replicate the 44 thieves study failed to produce similar results. For example, Lewis (1954) looked at 500 young people and found no association between early separation and later psychopathy.
- This questions the MDH because it suggests that other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal deprivation rather than the separation itself.