Attachment: Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Theory

Question 1

When was the Maternal Deprivation Theory??

Answer 1

1951

Question 2

When does separation become an issue for development??

Answer 2

When deprivation occurs

Question 3

When is the Critical Period??

Answer 3

First 30 months

Question 4

What are the 2 main results of Maternal Deprivation??

Answer 4

• Delayed intellectual development
• Affectionless Psychopathy

Question 5

Who did the 44 Thieves Study and when??

Answer 5

Bowlby in 1944

Question 6

What was the participants and procedure of the 44 Thieves study??

Answer 6

• 44 thieves and 44 non-thieves from a delinquency centre
• Interviews and Questionnaires
• Family interviews about periods of separation

Question 7

What were the 3 findings of the 44 Thieves study??

Answer 7

• 14/44 thieves -> Affectionless Psychopathy
• 12/44 thieves -> Prolonged separation from mothers up to 2 years
• 2/44 non-thieves -> Experienced prolonged separation

Question 8

What is the weakness of using war-orphans in the 44 Thieves Study?? (AO3)

Answer 8

Lack of validity:
Bowlby used orphans from WW2. The trauma and poor after care of these children may have lead to developmental issues rather than the maternal deprivation.

Question 9

What is the counter-evidence against the Maternal Deprivation Theory?? (AO3)

Answer 9

Hilda Lewis (1954):
Partially replicated the study on a larger scale
- 500 young people
- History of early prolonged separation from mother didn’t predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships.
- There may be other causes of the outcome of maternal deprivation

Question 10

What is the weakness of the Maternal Deprivation Theory using the term ‘deprivation’?? (AO3)

Answer 10

Rutter (1981):
Claimed Bowlby mixed up deprivation and privation.
- Deprivation is loss of primary attachment figure aft6er attachment has developed
- Privation is the failure to form any attachment in the first place

Long-term damage that Bowlby associates with deprivation is actually privation.