Attachement 5 | Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation. Flashcards
AO1: What is Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation states that prolonged separation from the mother or primary caregiver during the critical period (first 2.5 years) can lead to irreversible emotional and intellectual consequences such as affectionless psychopathy and low IQ.
AO1: What is the critical period in Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?
Bowlby proposed a critical period of around 2.5 years. If a child experiences prolonged separation from their primary caregiver without a suitable substitute during this time, they may suffer irreversible developmental consequences.
AO1: What is affectionless psychopathy in relation to Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?
Affectionless psychopathy refers to a lack of empathy, guilt, and normal emotional responses, often leading to criminal behaviour. Bowlby linked this condition to early maternal deprivation.
AO1: What did Bowlby’s 44 Thieves study investigate?
Bowlby’s 44 Thieves study investigated the link between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy. He found that 14 out of 44 juvenile thieves were affectionless psychopaths, and 12 of these had experienced prolonged maternal separation.
AO1: What was the method of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves study?
Bowlby conducted clinical interviews and psychological testing on 44 juvenile thieves and compared them with 44 non-criminal emotionally disturbed children. He examined their early childhood experiences and attachment histories.
AO1: What were the results of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves study?
Bowlby found that 14 of the 44 thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths. Of these, 12 had experienced prolonged maternal separation in early childhood. In contrast, only 2 in the control group had experienced prolonged separation.
AO1: What was the conclusion of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves study?
Bowlby concluded that prolonged maternal deprivation in early childhood could lead to affectionless psychopathy and increased likelihood of criminal behaviour. This supported his maternal deprivation hypothesis.
AO1: What was the Robertson and Robertson separation study?
Robertson and Robertson (1971) conducted observational research on young children separated from their mothers due to hospitalisation. They documented the stages of distress: protest, despair, and detachment.
AO1: What were the results of the Robertson and Robertson study?
They found that children who received emotional support from a substitute caregiver coped better, whereas those without such support exhibited long-term emotional distress and difficulty forming attachments.
AO1: What was the conclusion of the Robertson and Robertson study?
Their study highlighted the importance of consistent emotional care during separation and led to changes in hospital policies to allow parental visits and reduce the negative effects of separation.
AO1: What are the effects of institutionalisation according to Romanian orphan studies?
Institutionalisation can lead to developmental delays, disinhibited attachment, intellectual impairment, and difficulties in forming normal relationships. These effects vary depending on the age of adoption and quality of post-institutional care.
AO1: What did Rutter et al.’s Romanian orphan study find?
Rutter et al. (1998) found that orphans adopted before six months had normal cognitive development, while those adopted after six months showed disinhibited attachment and lower IQ scores, indicating the importance of early emotional care.
AO1: What is disinhibited attachment?
Disinhibited attachment is a behaviour seen in institutionalised children where they are overly friendly and affectionate towards strangers, likely due to a lack of consistent caregiving.
AO3: What supporting evidence is there for Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Harlow’s research with monkeys showed that maternal deprivation led to long-term emotional and social difficulties, supporting Bowlby’s claim that early separation can have lasting consequences.
AO3: What is a methodological issue with Bowlby’s 44 Thieves study?
The study relied on retrospective data from interviews, making it susceptible to memory distortion and bias, reducing its validity as evidence for maternal deprivation.
AO3: How have Romanian orphan studies influenced childcare practices?
Research from Romanian orphan studies has led to improvements in institutional care, such as assigning key workers to children to provide stable emotional support, reducing the negative effects of institutionalisation.
AO3: Why might the effects of institutionalisation not be permanent?
Some children from institutions have recovered well when placed in supportive families, suggesting that early deprivation does not always lead to irreversible damage, highlighting the role of individual differences in resilience.
AO3: What is a practical application of Robertson and Robertson’s findings?
Their research led to changes in hospital policies, allowing parents to stay with their children during hospitalisation to minimise emotional distress and attachment disruption.
AO3: How does individual differences affect the impact of maternal deprivation?
Not all children who experience maternal deprivation suffer negative consequences, suggesting that factors like temperament and quality of alternative care influence outcomes.
AO3: support that attachment distribution can be reversed.
Koluchva the case of the Czech twin boys
their mothers died afster they were born and their father remarried and their spetmother traeted them poorly.
after adoption they made much progress
