Attachment - Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
What does maternal deprivation focus on?
The idea that the continual presence of care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development in young children, both emotionally and intellectually
What is maternal deprivation?
The intellectual and emotional consequences of seperation between a child and his/her mother
What does seperation mean?
The child not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure
When does seperation become a problem?
When the child is deprived of emotional care or when there are extended seperations which can lead to deprivation
What is the critical period for psychological development?
2 and a half years and there is a continuing risk until age 5 if there is no attachment
What are the 2 effects of development?
A reduced intellectual and emotional development
What did William Goldfarb (1947) find?
Children had a lower IQ if they were in insitutions longer than children who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care
What did Bowlby identify in relation to a reduced emotional development?
Affectionless psychopathy which is the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards others
What does affectionless psychopathy prevent?
A person developing fulfilling relationships
What is affectionless psychopathy associated with?
Criminality as they cannot fell remorse for their victims or actions
What did Bowlby’s (1944) 44 thieves study examine?
The link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
What was the procedure of the 44 thieves study?
44 thieves were assessed for affectionless psychopathy and their families were assessed to see if maternal deprivation occured
What was the sample of the 44 thieves compared to?
A control group of 44 non-criminals but where emotionally disturbed
How many out of the 44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths?
14
How many out of the 14 affectionless psychopaths thieves were maternally deprived?
12
How many out of the remaining 30 thieves experienced separation?
5
What did Bowlby’s findings conclude?
That prolonged early separation/deprivation causes affectionless psychopathy
How many out of the 44 people in the control group experienced long separations?
2
What is one limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Flawed evidence
What is the evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation having flawed evidence?
P: Poor quality of evidence it is based on
E: Bowlby himself carried out the interviews which lead him to bias as he knew in advance which teenagers he expected to show psychopathy
E: Goldfarb’s study has confounding variables as the children had experienced early trauma as well as prolonged separation
L: Evidence has serious flaws and wouldn’t be taken seriously as evidence nowadays
What is another limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Deprivation and privation
What is the evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation being linked to deprivation and privation?
P: Confusion between different types of early experience
E: Rutter (1981) found that deprivation is the loss of a primary attachment figure after an attachment is formed; privation is the failure to form any attachments in the first place
E: Rutter pointed out that the severe long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is more likely to be privation
E: Children studied by Goldfarb would of been prived instead of deprived
L: Overestimated the serious of the effects of deprivation in child’s development
What is a third limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Critical VS sensitive periods
What is the evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation being linked to critical and sensitive periods?
P: Bowlby’s idea of critical period
E: Koluchová
