Attachment : Deprivation And Institutionalisation Flashcards
What is Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation?
Deprivation occurs when an attachment bond is formed between an infant and caregiver but is broken later in life. Bowlby proposed this theory 20 years before his attachment theory. However, the basis of the maternal deprivation hypothesis is the same as his idea of the critical period:
“If an infant is unable to develop a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with his/her mother (or mother substitute) before the age of 2.5 years then the child would have difficulty forming relationships with other people and be a risk of behavioural/emotional disorders.” Bowlby
what did Bowlby believe about maternal deprivation?
Bowlby believed that ongoing maternal deprivation would have lasting negative effects on a child in terms of their emotional development leading to possible mental health problems or maladjustment.
Although Bowlby believed that the effects of maternal deprivation would be at their most acute during the critical period, should substitute emotional care not be provided, he also noted that there was a risk of adverse consequences up until five years of age.
What was the 44 thieves study?
Aim: To see if early separation from the primary caregiver (deprivation) was associated with behavioural disorders. Bowlby defined a particular behaviour disorder as affectionless psychopathy to describe individuals who have no sense of shame of guilt.
Method: Children, from 5–16 years old who had been referred to a guidance clinic in London where Bowlby worked were examined. 44 of the children were criminals (guilty of theft) and 44 non-criminal participants were used a control group. Bowlby interviewed the children and their families to create a record of early life experiences.
what were the results and conclusions of 44 thieves?
Results: Bowlby collected data via interviews and questionnaires from the 88 juveniles and found that 17/ 44 thieves had experienced early prolonged separation from their mothers before 5 years. 15/17 of these thieves were classed as affectionless psychopaths (no guilt/ remorse), while only 2/44 non-thieves had experienced such separation. Therefore these findings support the MDH, as there appears to be a link between disruption to attachments in the first 5 years and later maladjustment.
Conclusion: These findings suggest a link between early separations and later social maladjustment. The maternal deprivation hypothesis appears to lead to affectionless psychopathy and antisocial behaviour.
Evaluation of Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
- Bowlby’s research on maternal deprivation has had a significant impact on best practice in institutions such as hospitals where infants are likely to experience prolonged separation from caregivers.
- historically, visiting children in hospitals was very restricted or not permitted at all. The Robertson’s (1952) observed a two-year-old girl named Laura who was hospitalised for eight days. Laura struggled to cope with the emotional deprivation, demonstrating real distress. Key changes have since occurred due to the new psychological insight into how best to provide quality substitute emotional care in the absence of parents to minimise negative consequences for the child.
What are weaknesses of Bowlby’s MDH
There is evidence which counters Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis claims. Lewis (1944) replicated the juvenile thieves study with a larger sample of children but did not find that early deprivation, caused by prolonged separation form the primary caregiver, predicted a greater likelihood of criminal behaviour in the youths. This casts doubt on Bowlby’s theory as it suggests that other factors may be involved which mediate the consequences of maternal deprivation. For example, Barrett (1997) found that securely attached children are more resistant to the negative effects of maternal deprivation in comparison to insecurely attached children.
One weakness of Bowlby’s research is that the findings are correlational. Bowlby found a relationship between deprivation and later behavioural issues (affectionless psychopathy), but it is not clear that the early separation caused these issues, as there could have been other factors involved. Therefore, we cannot establish cause and effect relationship to conclude that separation leads to behavioural issues and affectionless psychopathy. Additional methodological issues with Bowlby’s maternal deprivation research is that he used retrospective data collection by means of an interview. Therefore, the parents of the juvenile thieves may have over/under-estimated the details of early separations with their children, making the results less valid
Disinhibited attachment
characteristic behvaiour of someone
who has grown up in an institute – overly friendly and affectionate (indiscriminate) to anyone.
What was Zeanah Early Intervention Study?
- 95 children who were 12-31 months, attachment was assessed on children who spent most of their ( 90% on average) in an institution.
- The control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
- The Strange situation was used on these children, as well as the carers being asked if the child had any unusual behaviours.
• 74% of the control group were securely attached, which matches the norm of most societies, whereas only 19% of the institutional group were in this category. Furthermore, 65% of this group were classed as having a disinhibited attachment.
Both studies showed children who are institutionalised have a great risk of developing an attachment that is disinhibited
What is bowlby’s use of ‘deprivation’
- Effects on development – intellectual, emotional, social,
e.g. affectionless psychopathy, delinquency, low IQ - Critical period – an issue if prolonged separation, if before two and half years (but risk up to 5 years) and if no substitute available
- Internal working model – this can lead to inability to be a good parent
- Continuity hypothesis – if there are prolonged separations then there may be issues into adulthood.
What is the difference between privation and maternal deprivation
• Privation – Not having the opportunity to form a bond in
the first instance e.g. institutionalisation
• Maternal deprivation – A bond or attachment has been formed with the main caregiver but it has been disrupted for some reason This is only an issue if the child is deprived i.e. they lose an element of her care. E.g. divorce
Evaluation of 44 Thieves Evaluation
• Sample was biased – all boys
• Unique – making generalisations to a wider population difficult
• The data collection is retrospective (i.e. the children and their parents had to think back many years to the child’s younger days). This can produce inaccuracies (as you will appreciate being experts on the memory process!)
• Some of the children were only separated for short periods, so it is difficult to believe this could have caused such emotional disturbances
• The results are correlational, so we cannot prove cause and effect. Bowlby assumed that the early deprivation had caused the later disturbance, but many other factors could be responsible - poverty
• Bowlby did not explain why the two in the control had experienced deprivation had not become delinquent
What is the investigator effect?
Bowlby assessed the thieves and the non thieves himself and he ‘expected’ the thieves to show affectionless psychopathy – bias.
What is the PDD model and how is it support for MDH
1 Protest: The initial stage of separation can last several hours or days and the child is seen to cry profusely, throw himself around and seek for the mother figure. During this phase of protest the child will actively refuse comfort from other adults or displays exaggerated clinging to an adult.
2 Despair: Once the initial protest and screaming stops, the child no longer anticipates the return of the mother and becomes increasingly hopeless. The child will become withdrawn, apathetic and demonstrates mourning. The child self-soothes and rejects the comfort of others; often displaying rocking, thumb sucking, and cuddling inanimate objects.
3 Detachment: The child regains an interest in its environment and even accepts comfort and interaction with other adults. However, when the mother returns it is apparent that the child does not display normal reunion behaviour. The child will reject the mother, turning away from her and not accepting her comfort. The child will seem to reject his mother as she has seemingly rejected them. Prolonged or repeated separations can lead to rather superficial interactions between the child and other adult figures
What is the study of institutionalisation?
• Many Romanian orphans were adopted by British parents, so Rutter and his colleagues aimed to find out if the good care they received in Britain has any reversal on the effects of their institutionalisation.
• They found 165 Romanian orphans and tested them at the ages of 4, 6, 11 and 15, examining physical, emotional and cognitive development.
• The control group consisted of 52 British orphans adopted around the same age.
• When they first arrived in the UK, their intellectual development was below average and they were extremely malnourished.
• In the 11 year olds tested, there was a correlation between the rate of recovery and the age of adoption.
• The earlier their adoption, the higher their mean IQ, and the same differences were shown at 16 years old (Beckett et al.).
• They also identified a difference between those who were adopted before 6 months and those after. If adopted after 6 months, signs of disinhibited attachment were observed. This is a rare style of attachment where the infant is as friendly and open to strangers as they are to their caregivers.
Facts about the study of institutionalisation
Age six 26% of Romanian orphans showed disinhibited attachment 3.8% of UK adoptees showed this. By eleven 54% of the Romanian group still showed this pattern.
• Disinhibited attachment persisted in many of the adoptees at age 6 and in over 50% at age 11
• Attention seeking, clinginess
• Physical, cognitive and social developmental delay.
• Differential rates of recovery depending on age of adoption.
• At age 11, mean IQ 102 for those adopted before 6 months; 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years, 77 for those adopted after 2 years .
