At - Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
Define deprivation
To be deprived is to lose something. In the context of child development deprivation refers to the loss of emotional care that is normally provided by a primary caregiver.
Who came up with the theory of maternal deprivation?
Bowlby (1951, 1953).
What does Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation propose?
The prolonged emotional deprivation would have long-term consequences in terms of emotional development.
What are the 3 strands to Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
The value of maternal care, critical period and long-term consequences.
What did Spitz and Wolf (1946) observe?
That 100 ‘normal’ children who were placed in an institution became severely depressed within a few months.
What did Skodak and Skeels (1949) observe?
They found that children placed in institutions scored poorly on intelligence tests. However, when the same children were transferred to a different institution where some inmates gave the children emotional care, the IQ scores improved by almost 30 points.
What did Bowlby say about the value of maternal care?
He believed it wasn’t enough to make sure that a child was well-fed and kept safe and warm. He believed that infants and children needed a ‘warm, intimate and continuous relationship’ with a mother (or permanent mother-substitute) to ensure continuing normal mental health.
He famously said that ‘mother-love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health’ (Bowlby, 1953).
What did Bowlby say about the critical period in his theory of maternal deprivation?
He believed a young child who is denied such care of frequent and/or prolonged separations may become emotionally disturbed.
This only applies to a critical period in development - separation will only have this effect if this happens before the age of about two and a half years, and if there is no substitute mother-person available. He also felt there was a continuing risk up until the age of five.
According to Bowlby, does separation result in deprivation?
Not necessarily.
According to Bowlby, what is the long-term consequence of maternal deprivation?
Emotional maladjustment or even mental health problems such as depression.
What was the key study of Bowlby’s to investigate maternal deprivation?
The 44 juvenile thieves study.
Explain the procedure of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study in 1944
Bowlby analysed the case histories of a number of his patients in the Child Guidance Clinic in London where he worked. All the children attending the clinic were emotionally maladjusted.
He studied 88 of these children - half had been caught stealing (the 44 ‘thieves’) and the other half were a control group.
He suggested that some of the ‘thieves’ were affectionless psychopaths - they lacked normal signs of affection, shame or sense of responsibility. Such characteristics enabled them to be ‘thieves’ - they could steal from others because it didn’t matter to them.
Explain the findings of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study in 1944
Bowlby found that those individuals diagnosed as affectionless thieves had experienced frequent early separations from their mothers. 86% of the affectionless thieves (12 out of 14) experienced frequent separations compared with 17% (5 out of 30) of the other thieves.
Almost none of the control ppts experienced early separations whereas 39% of all the thieves had experienced early separations. These early separations often consisted of continual or repeated stays in foster homes or hospitals, when the children were scarcely visited by their families.
These findings suggest that early separations are linked to affectionless psychopathy - a lack of continuous care may well cause emotional maladjustment or even mental disorder.
What did the findings of Bowlby’s 44 juvenile thieves study suggest?
That early separations are linked to affectionless psychopathy - a lack of continuous care may well cause emotional maladjustment or even mental disorder.
