attachment - deprivation, institutionalisation & connections

Question 1

what is deprivation?

Answer 1

when an attachment bond is formed between an infant and caregiver but is broken later in life

Question 2

what is the basis of the maternal deprivation theory and who made it?

Answer 2

bowlby:

if an infant is can’t develop a warm, continuous relationship with their mother (or mother substitute) before the age of 2.5 years then the child would have difficulty forming relationships with other people and be at a risk of behavioural/emotional disorders

Question 3

bowlby’s key point about maternal love:

Answer 3

mother-love in infancy is as important
for mental health as vitamins and proteins are for physical health

Question 4

the difference between separation and deprivation:

Answer 4

separation means the child not being physically in the presence of the primary
attachment figure

whilst

deprivation means losing the emotional care of the caregiver as a result of the separation

Question 5

how can deprivation be avoided?

Answer 5

if alternative emotional care is offered

Question 6

what can happen if a child is separated from their mother for an extended time during their first 30 months?

Answer 6

intellectual development and emotional development could be affected:

intellectual development:
-if a child is deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they will suffer mental retardation/abnormally low IQ

emotional development
-deprivation may lead to affectionless psychopathy. this is where individuals don’t have empathy for others
↳ they show no or very little remorse, guilt or shame for their bad deeds & this prevents them from developing normal relationships with people and is often linked to criminal behaviour

Question 7

does separation cause deprivation?

Answer 7

not always

Question 8

maternal deprivation & the critical period:

Answer 8

-of maternal deprivation occurs within the ‘critical period’ (2.5 years/ 30 months) then the effects will definitely be felt
-he maintained that there is still an element of ongoing risk until age 5 (sensitive period)

Question 9

which key study relates to poor emotional deprivation after maternal deprivation?

Answer 9

44 juvenile thieves (1944)
bowlby

Question 10

the aim of the 44 thieves study:

Answer 10

-to see if deprivation from the PCG was associated with behavioural disorders
-bowlby defined a particular behaviour disorder

Question 11

the method of the 44 thieves study:

Answer 11

-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

Question 12

the results of the 44 thieves study:

Answer 12

-Bowlby identified 14 of the 44 thieves as affectionless psychopaths
-86% (12 out of 14) of these affectionless psychopaths had experienced early and prolonged deprivation
-only 17% of the ‘other thieves’ had experienced such separations

(4% of the control group had experienced frequent early separations)

Question 13

the conclusion of the 44 thieves study:

Answer 13

-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

Question 14

strengths of the 44 thieves study:

Answer 14

-animal studies have demonstrated maternal deprivation
-bowlby’s research on maternal deprivation has had a significant impact on practice in institutions

Question 15

ao3 / strength - animal studies have demonstrated maternal deprivation
(+ however)

Answer 15

P - animal studies have demonstrated maternal deprivation

E - harlow found that monkeys that had been separated from their mothers and raised on a cloth or wire mother were more aggressive and hostile
↳ they did not know how to react socially to other monkeys

L - this supports bowlby’s theory

however: there is always some doubt over the extent to which animal studies can be generalised to human behaviour

Question 16

ao3 / strength - bowlby’s research on maternal deprivation has had a significant impact on practice in institutions

Answer 16

P - bowlby’s maternal deprivation has had a significant impact on practice in institutions such as hospitals where infants are likely to experience prolonged separation from caregivers

E - historically, visiting children in hospitals was very restricted or not permitted at all
↳ the robertson’s (1952) observed a two-year-old girl, laura who was hospitalised for eight days. Laura struggled to cope with the emotional deprivation, demonstrating real distress.
↳ key changes have happened 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

L - this means that Bowlby’s research has been useful to society

Question 17

criticisms of the 44 thieves study:

Answer 17

-Bowlby was asking the participants to look back and recall separations. these memories may not be accurate.
-the findings are correlational
-sources of evidence for maternal
deprivation are often flawed
-bowlby designed and conducted the experiment himself

Question 18

ao3 / criticisms - Bowlby was asking the participants to look back and recall separations

Answer 18

P - the supporting evidence that Bowlby provided was in the form of retrospective data on separations / non separations

E - these recall memories may not be accurate

L - this means that the data that bowlby collected may be invalid

Question 19

ao3 / criticisms - the findings are correlational

Answer 19

P - the findings are correlational

E - 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
↳ we cannot establish cause and effect relationship to conclude that separation leads to behavioural issues and affectionless psychopathy

L - therefore we cannot conclude that there is a link between deprivation and affectionless psychopathy

Question 20

ao3 / criticisms - sources of evidence for maternal deprivation are often flawed

Answer 20

P - sources of evidence for maternal deprivation are often flawed

E - goldfarb studied war orphans who often had poor after care → these factors may have caused the developmental difficulties rather than the separation
↳ children growing up from birth in institutions were deprived of physical care as well as maternal care

L - this shows that there may be missing information in the conclusions tod the effects of deprivation

Question 21

ao3 / criticisms - bowlby designed and conducted the experiment himself

Answer 21

P - bowlby designed and conducted the experiment himself

E - this may have lead to experimenter bias as he viewed the participants’ answers in a way that supported his diagnosis of affectionless psychopathy

L - this means that the deductions made from the interviews may be incorrect

Question 22

Simon is a habitual criminal. Since his early teens he has stolen many car stereos and shoplifted. More recently he has turned to burglary and violent crime. Simon is now in court for mugging a 75-year-old woman. Simon studied psychology and as his defence mentions his mother’s long spell in hospital when he was a baby.

Answer 22

…

Question 23

How could Simon use the theory of maternal deprivation to excuse his actions?

Answer 23

Simon could claim that he failed to develop normal empathy or guilt because of his experience of maternal deprivation. This means that he does not have the same inhibitions about violence that most of us would experience and he can’t alter his behaviour - it’s not his fault.

Question 24

Referring to the evaluations of the theory of maternal deprivation, explain why Simon might be unwise to use this defence.

Answer 24

Simon would be unwise to use this defence because most research does not support Bowlby’s ideas about maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy.

Question 25

Joe was taken away from his alcoholic parents at six months old and placed in care. He was adopted when he was seven years old, but has a difficult relationship with his adoptive parents. He is aggressive towards his younger siblings and is often in trouble at school. His last school report said, ‘Joe struggles with classwork and seems to have little regard for the feelings of others.’

Apply as many of Bowlby’s theories as you can to this scenario.

Answer 25

critical period:
attachment was not formed in the critical OR sensitive period. adopted at seven years old, joe is beyond the critical period for forming attachments

consequences of maternal deprivation: Joe shows consequences of maternal deprivation
delinquency – ‘in trouble at school’
low IQ – ‘struggling with classwork’;
affectionless psychopathy – ‘little regard for the feelings of others’

internal working model as a template for later relationships:
Joe’s difficult relationships may be due to a lack of opportunity to develop an
internal working model

Question 26

what is institutionalisation?

Answer 26

the effects of living in an institutional setting

Question 27

what is an institution?

Answer 27

a place like a hospital or orphanage,
where people live for long, continuous periods of time

Question 28

what are the usual conditions in institutions?

Answer 28

little emotional care is provided

Question 29

attachment research & institutionalisation

Answer 29

attachment research is interested in the effects of this on a child’s development and attachments

Question 30

who conducted the romanian orphan study (ERA) & when?

Answer 30

rutter et al
(2011)

Question 31

the aim of the romanian orphan study:

Answer 31

to examine the long-term effects of institutionalisation in a longitudinal study, beginning in the early 1990s

Question 32

ERA

Answer 32

English and Romanian Adoptees

Question 33

the method of the romanian orphan study:

Answer 33

-165 children who had spent their early years in a romanian orphanage formed
the experimental group (they would have the effects of institutionalisation)

-111 of these children were adopted before the age of two, while the remaining 54 were adopted by the age of four

-they were compared to a control group of 52 british children, who were adopted
before they were six months old
↳ the social, cognitive and physical development of all infants was examined at regular intervals

-interviews were conducted with adoptive parents and teachers

Question 34

the results of the romanian orphan study:

Answer 34

-at the point of adoption, the romanian orphans showed delayed development
on all elements of social, cognitive and physical progress

-they were physically smaller & weighed less on average
-many were classified as mentally retarded
-they were more likely to experience difficulties with making or maintaining
peer relationships
-they were often categorised as having disinhibited attachment disorder

Question 35

results of the ERA: adopted before 6 months vs adopted after 6 months

Answer 35

-almost all the romanian orphans who were adopted before the age of six months caught up on these measures of development when compared to the british control group

-the Romanian children who were adopted after six months continued to show significant deficits in terms of social, cognitive and physical development

Question 36

the conclusion of the romanian orphan study:

Answer 36

-institutionalisation can have severe long-term effects on development → this is worse, the longer the child has spent in institutions

-if a child is adopted before the age of
6-month-old & given emotional care from someone, the effects of institutionalisation are much less severe and can be overcome

-in children that are adopted later on (after 6 months old) and provided with adequate emotional caregiving, the effects of institutionalistion are more severe and more long lasting

-these findings support the view of a critical/sensitive period – a failure
to form attachment before the age of 6 months appears to have long
lasting effects

Question 37

what is zeaneh et al’s study & when was it done?

Answer 37

The Bucharest Early Intervention
Project (2005)

Question 38

the method of zeanah et al’s study:

Answer 38

-they assessed the attachment in 95 children aged between 12-31 months who had spent an average of 90% of their life in an institution
-they were compared to a control group who spend their life in a “normal family”.

(attachment type was measured using the strange situation)

Question 39

results of the zeanah et al study:

Answer 39

secure:
74% control group / 19% instit group

disorganised:
65% of instit group
(inconsistent pattern of behaviour; sometimes they show strong attachment other times they avoid the caregiver)

-some of the instit group showed disinhibited attachment

Question 40

conclusion of the zeanah et al study:

Answer 40

-infants who spend their early years in institutional care, with the absence of a
primary attachment figure to provide consistent and sensitive emotional caregiving, are less likely to develop a secure attachment and are far more likely, to experience a disinhibited or disorganised attachment

Question 41

what are the effects of institutionalisation?
(ERA study)

Answer 41

-delayed intellectual development/low IQ
-disinhibited attachments
-delayed physical development and growth
-poor parenting
-ADHD

Question 42

delayed intellectual development/low IQ
(ERA study)

Answer 42

cognitive development is affected by lack of emotional care:

-half of orphans showed mental retardation (intellectual disability disorder) when they came to the UK

-when studied at 11, the recovery rates were related to the age of adoption

those adopted before 6 months
– mean IQ = 102
adopted 6 months - 2 years
– mean IQ = 86
adopted after 2 years
– mean IQ = 77

-this concludes that low IQ is an effect of institutionalisation but this is worse if the child spends longer in the institution
↳ these differences remained at aged 16

Question 43

what is a disinhibited attachment?

Answer 43

having too many carers (in the Romanian orphans study the orphans had up to fifty carers), can result in a form of insecure attachment where children do not discriminate between who they chose as attachment figures.

these children will treat strangers with
inappropriate familiarity and overfriendliness. these children are attention seeking and clingy

Question 44

disinhibited attachments
(ERA study)

Answer 44

-disinhibited attachments were common in children adopted after 6 months
old
-they also had difficulty with peer relationships
-disinhibited attachments were rare in children adopted before 6 months, they
showed ‘normal’ emotional development

-the frequency of disinhibited attachment was related to the age of adoption

Question 45

delayed physical development and growth (ERA study)

Answer 45

-the romanian orphans were physically smaller than control groups
-further research has shown that children from institutions are physically smaller than controls and this is thought to be due to lack of emotional care (deprivation dwarfism)

-more recent research has found that the brains of those from romanian institutions were 8.6% smaller compared to controls

Question 46

poor parenting (ERA study)

Answer 46

poor parenting and poor later relationships:
-evidence from harlow’s monkeys

-harlow found that monkeys raised without a mother went on to have difficulty in forming relationships with other monkeys and became poor mothers
↳ they froze or fled when approached by other monkeys
↳ they did not cradle their own babies
↳ they neglected their own babies

-this supports bowlby’s idea that a child forms an internal working model from
their first relationship that sets the scene for all future relationships

Question 47

ADHD
(ERA study)

Answer 47

-was more common in 15 years old and 22-25 year old samples thought to
be related to deprivation in early years

Question 48

strengths of ERA studies:

Answer 48

-the research is longitudinal
-the research has practical applications

Question 49

ao3 / strength - the research is longitudinal

Answer 49

P - the research is longitudinal

E - rutter’s research followed the children for many years
↳ without this being longitudinal we may draw incorrect conclusions from the findings, such as that there are major effects on all children in institutional care when in reality some of the effects
may disappear after sufficient time and with suitable high-quality care

L - therefore, the results of their research appear to be a valid
representation of the effects of being placed in institutional care as well as portraying the results of receiving quality follow-on emotional caregiving in a timely manner

Question 50

ao3 / strength - the research has practical applications

Answer 50

P - the research has practical applications

E - the results from this research have led to improvements in the way
children are cared for in institutions
↳ children’s homes now avoid large numbers of caregiver and instead
each child has one or two “key workers”
↳ this aims to give the child a chance to develop more normal attachments and to avoid the disinhibited attachments seen in this research

L - it has also impacted on social services practice. children are adopted as soon as possible so they can form attachments to adopted families

Question 51

criticisms of the ERA study:

Answer 51

-the long term effects of these early experiences are not yet clear
-deprivation was only one factor affecting these children
-there are issues of generalisation from Romanian orphan studies

Question 52

ao3 / criticism - the long term effects of these early experiences are not yet clear

Answer 52

P - the long term effects of these early experiences are not yet clear

E - the adopted orphans have only been followed into their mid-twenties
↳ the children that currently lag behind in intellectual development may still “catch up” as adults
↳ equally, early adopted children who appear to have no issues may experience emotional problems as adults

L - however there is still ongoing research

Question 53

ao3 / criticism - deprivation was only one factor affecting these children

Answer 53

P - deprivation was only one factor affecting these children

E - the orphans not only suffered emotional deprivation but also lived in extremely poor physical conditions with a lack of cognitive stimulation (which would also affect their development)
↳ we cannot conclude that the effects on these children is just due to the emotional deprivation they suffered

L - it is difficult to generalise the finding to all institutionalised children as not all children will have encountered these situational variables

Question 54

ao3 / criticism - there are issues of generalisation from romanian orphan studies

Answer 54

P - there are issues of generalisation from Romanian orphan studies

E - since the conditions of care were so dire for the romanian orphans, they cannot be considered typical
↳ it stands to reason that the results obtained from studying the romanian institutions do not represent all situations where children are placed in care and experience deprivation

L - this lack of external validity is a result of the unusual situational variables due to the harsh political regimes at the time

Question 55

Anca is an orphan who has recently been adopted by a British couple. Before
being adopted, Anca lived in an institution with lots of other children in very poor conditions. Her new parents are understandably concerned about how Anca’s early experiences may affect her in the future. Use your knowledge of the effects of institutionalisation to advise Anca’s new parents about what to expect.

Answer 55

delayed intellectual development/low IQ/problems with concentration:
(application) anca may struggle more at school than other children/may not learn new behaviours, concepts as quickly

** disinhibited attachment**
(application) anca may not know what counts as ‘appropriate’ behaviour towards strangers

Question 56

Nadia was adopted when she was two years old. Prior to this she had lived in a home for orphans. Now at the age of 11 she is doing well at school but her parents and teachers have noticed that she has a tendency to be attention-seeking with familiar people and strangers. Her adoptive parents wonder if this could be related to her early experiences before being adopted.

Referring to the effects of institutionalisation, explain why Nadia may be showing this unusual social behaviour.

Answer 56

Nadia is showing signs of disinhibited attachment. This is quite common in children adopted following early institutional care, especially where children are adopted after the first six months. Disinhibited attachment is likely to be an adaptation to having multiple carers during the time a child is forming their primary attachment.

Question 57

internal working model – relationships with others

Answer 57

the internal working model acts as a template for all future relationships
↳ as it generates expectations for what intimate, loving relationships are like

Question 58

how the IWM affects later life

Answer 58

-a child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable
caregiver will form the expectation that all relationships are loving and
reliable and they will bring these qualities to future relationships

-this IWM may affect the child’s ability to be a parent themselves

Question 59

evidence for the internal working model:

Answer 59

hazan and shaver (1987) – the love quiz

Question 60

the aim of hazan and shaver’s love quiz:

Answer 60

they wanted to see if there was a correlation between the infant’s attachment type and their future approach to romantic relationships

Question 61

the method of hazan and shaver’s love quiz:

Answer 61

-the love quiz was printed in local newspaper (the rocky mountain news)
and readers were asked to send in their responses

-hazan & shaver analysed the first 620 replies sent in from people aged
from 14 to 82

Question 62

the format of hazan & shaver’s love quiz:

Answer 62

the quiz had three sections:

1) assessing respondents’ current or most significant relationship

2) general love experiences

3) assessing attachment type by responding to one of three statements
↳ they then classified the respondents’ according to mary ainsworth’s
infant attachment types & looked for corresponding adult love styles

Question 63

the results of hazan and shaver’s love quiz:

Answer 63

out of 620 replies:
56% of respondents = secure
25% = avoidant
19% = resistant

Question 64

the love quiz: differing opinions on relationships of the different attachment types

Answer 64

securely attached: believed love is enduring, had mutual trust and were less likely to get divorced

insecurely attached: felt love was rare, fell in and out of love easily, found relationships less easy, were more likely to be divorced

Question 65

the conclusion of hazan and shaver’s love quiz:

Answer 65

-they found that those who were securely attached as infants tended to have happy lasting relationships

-on the other hand, insecurely attached people found adult relationships more
difficult, tended to divorce and believed love was rare
-this supports the idea that childhood experiences have significant impact on people’s attitude toward later
relationships

Question 66

evaluation of the love quiz:

Answer 66

there are methodological issues with assessing attachment type
retrospectively

Question 67

ao3 / criticism - there are methodological issues with assessing attachment type retrospectively

Answer 67

P - there are methodological issues with assessing attachment type
retrospectively

E - the love quiz relies on self-report from adult participants about their memories from infancy and childhood
↳ recollection from years gone by are
likely to be impaired and any answers provided may lack accuracy due to deterioration
↳ this problem is further compounded by the possibility that individuals may not report honestly or even have an
insight into their own template of expectations since the internal
working model in an unconscious framework

L - this lowers the internal validity of the findings

Question 68

attachment theories & relationships with peers

Answer 68

attachment theories suggest that the child’s attachment classification may influence their popularity with peers

Question 69

evidence for attachment theories & relationships with peers:

Answer 69

hartup et al. (1993) argues that children with a secure attachment type are more popular at nursery and engage more in social interactions with other children

myron-wilson and smith (1998)
found that insecure-avoidant infants are
most likely to be bullied while insecure-resistant infants are most likely to
be bullies

kerns (1994) found that securely attached infants went on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached infants had difficulties

Question 70

securely attached children & friendships

Answer 70

-the child who has a secure attachment style should be more confident in interaction with friends

-securely attached children are less likely to be involved in bullying (questionnaire to 196 children aged 7-11 from london)

Question 71

strength of the influence of early attachment on later relationships:

Answer 71

there is further evidence to support the idea of an internal working model

Question 72

ao3 / strength - there is further evidence to support the idea of an internal working model

Answer 72

P - there is further evidence to support the idea of an internal working model

E - bailey et al (2007) studied 99 mothers and found that those with a poor attachment to their own parents were more likely to have 1 year olds who were poorly attached
↳ supports the idea of an internal working model of attachment as it is being passed through families

L - findings from Harlow’s study using non-human animals also mirror this pattern
↳ monkeys with poor or no attachments were seen to experience difficulties with parenting because of their early,
formative experiences

Question 73

criticisms of the influence of early attachment on later relationships:

Answer 73

-the idea is very deterministic and pessimistic
-the link between attachment and later relationships due to the internal working model is only correlational
-the internal working model is unconscious

Question 74

ao3 / criticism - the idea is very deterministic and pessimistic

Answer 74

P - the idea is very deterministic and pessimistic

E - the theory assumes that if you do not have a happy “secure” childhood
you are doomed to always have bad relationships, this isn’t always the case
↳ koluchova (1976) reported the case of twin boys from Czechoslovakia who
were isolated from the age of 18 months to 7 years old → they were then looked after by two loving adults and appeared to recover fully
↳ similarly, not everyone who has a happy childhood grows up to have
completely happy relationships in later life

L - this shows that bowlby may have overestimated the role of the internal
working model

Question 75

ao3 / criticism - the link between attachment and later relationships due to the internal working model is only correlational

Answer 75

P - the link between attachment and later relationships (due to the internal working model) is only correlational

E - whilst an association has been found by many researchers, this is does not determine causality
↳ fraley et al. (2002) found that the correlations were not always strong positive ones either, with correlation coefficients ranging from +.10 to +.50.

L - this means that correlational research in this area is not very reliable due to an unstable array of results

Question 76

ao3 / criticism - the internal working model is unconscious

Answer 76

P - the internal working model is unconscious, we aren’t aware of it existing and can’t describe its effect

E - this is a problem because it’s difficult for people to report on something they are not aware of
↳ people can only describe how they consciously understand their relationships (and this will be influenced by many of other variables – media, expectations, etc)

L - this is a limitation because we may only get a partial picture of the internal working model

Question 77

Some types of psychological therapy make use of internal working models.
Gary and Carly have just started relationship counselling. They have been together for a year but they have frequent rows.

Carly feels that Gary is distant and wants to spend a lot of time alone. Gary says he is not used to intimacy. He also objects to Carly wanting to know where he is and starting rows.

Gary and Carly have very different relationships with their parents. Gary’s mother was always fairly uninvolved and they are not close now. Carly says that her mother is argumentative and controlling.

Answer 77

…

Question 78

What might their therapist say about Gary’s and Carly’s internal working models?

Answer 78

Gary and Carly’s therapist might say that their current relationship problems are the result of their internal working models. Both of them are influenced in their relationship behaviour by their primary attachments.

Gary has brought his history of a distant relationship with his mother to the relationship whereas Carly’s relationship behaviour owes more to her argumentative and controlling mother.

Gary shows signs of having an insecure-avoidant attachment whereas Carly appears more insecure-resistant.

Question 79

the love quiz
different love experiences of each attachment

Answer 79

secure:
positive relationships

resistant:
preoccupied by love

avoidant:
fearful of closeness

Question 80

the love quiz
adults’ different views of relationships

Answer 80

secure:
trust others and believe in enduring love

resistant:
fall in love easily but have trouble finding true love

avoidant:
love is not durable nor necessary for happiness

Question 81

the love quiz
memories of the mother-child relationship

Answer 81

secure:
positive image of mother as dependable and caring

resistant:
conflicting memories of mother being positive and rejecting

avoidant:
remember mothers as cold and rejecting