Attachment - Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation

Question 1

What is monotropy?

Answer 1

• The unique attachment bond that develops between infant and mother/caregiver
• This bond is needed for the healthy psychological development of infants

Question 2

What is maternal deprivation?

Answer 2

-Maternal deprivation is not receiving suitable emotional care from a maternal figure

Question 3

What is the critical period?

Answer 3

• The period in which adequate attachment must be formed
• If adequate attachment is disrupted/not formed within 30 months of birth it can cause negative intellectual and emotional consequences due to deprivation

Question 4

What are the consequences if an infant doesn’t form an attachment in the critical period?

Answer 4

• Delinquency, due to a delayed social development, behaviour is often outside acceptable norms, such as petty crime
• Affectionless psychopathy, due to a delayed emotional development, children are unable to show caring behaviour others or empathy, they could often have little guilt for harmful actions
• Low IQ, due to a delayed intellectual development general cognitive abilities are lower than peers

Question 5

What is the continuity hypothesis?

Answer 5

-The continuity hypothesis states that a lack of an internal working model/template for relationships can lead to an unsuccessful childhood, problems with adult relationships and issues with own parenting skills

Question 6

How does Bowlby’s 44 thieves study support the theory that maternal deprivation can have negative consequences on children/older children such as affectionless psychopathy?

Answer 6

• Bowlby interviewed 44 older children accused of theft, and a control group of 44 emotionally disturbed non-thieves
• Affectionless psychopathy was assessed, and the parents of the older children were contacted to identify periods of separation from the mothers
• The findings show that 14 of the 44 thieves matched the criteria for affectionless psychopathy and none of the control group
• 12 of the 14 affectionless psychopaths experienced prolonged separation compared to 2 of the control group
• This suggests that affectionless psychopathy that led to criminal/delinquent behaviour is linked to maternal deprivation

Question 7

What is a disadvantage of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?

Answer 7

-The 44 thieves study is correlational, this is a disadvantage as there may be a third factor that is not taken into account such as extreme poverty or family history of poor mental health

Question 8

What is an advantage of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?

Answer 8

-Bowlby’s 44 thieves study has led to changes in child welfare policies in many institutions, such as visiting time for mothers in hospitals