Assess whether the 44 Juvenile Thieves study by Bowlby (1944) could be considered scientific. (8)

Question 1

44 children from the Child Guidance Clinic were used as a control group and compared against 44 juvenile thieves.

Answer 1

The use of controls such as using a control group who were also classified as maladjusted to compare against the 44 thieves provides some measures to make the study scientific.

Question 2

The 44 thieves had a range of character types, including depressed, over-active and affectionless.

Answer 2

The small number of case studies and unique characteristics of the thieves means that the study cannot easily be replicated so tested for reliability therefore reducing the scientific status of the research

Question 3

Statistical analysis was used to measure the association between affectionless characteristics and a history of mother-child separation.

Answer 3

Bowlby carried out a chi-square on data gathered, empirically testing the degree of association between prolonged mother-child separation by quantitative means, increasing the scientific status of his research.

Question 4

Bowlby interviewed the juveniles himself and built up a case history for each child.

Answer 4

As Bowlby conducted the interviews himself in support of his theory of affectionless psychopathy his holistic interpretation of the delinquent life experiences could be deemed subjective which reduces the scientific status of his findings.