Attachment- Disruption of Attachment

Question 1

What is separation?

Answer 1

Where a child is away from a caregiver they’re attached to for a relatively short time

Question 2

What is deprivation?

Answer 2

The loss of something that is wanted or needed

Question 3

What is maternal deprivation?

Answer 3

The loss of the primary attachment figure that is long-term or permanent

Question 4

What does Bowlby say in his maternal deprivation hypothesis?

Answer 4

• Deprivation from the main caregiver during the critical period will have harmful effects on a child’s emotional, social, intellectual and physical development
• Long-term effects of deprivation may include separation anxiety which may lead to future relationships being affected

Question 5

What was Bowlby’s study of the 44 juvenile thieves?

Answer 5

• Case study on backgrounds of 44 adolescents who had been referred to Bowlby’s clinic because they’d been stealing
• Control group of 44 adolescents who were ‘emotionally disturbed’ and didn’t steal

Question 6

What was the results of the 44 juvenile thieves study?

Answer 6

• 17 thieves had experienced frequent separation from mothers before age of 2 compared with 2 in control group
• 14 thieves diagnosed as ‘affectionless psychopaths’, 12 had experienced separation from mothers

Question 7

What was the conclusion from the 44 juvenile thieves study?

Answer 7

Deprivation of child from main caregiver early in life can have harmful long-term consequences

Question 8

What is the evaluation from the 44 juvenile thieves study?

Answer 8

• Results indicate a link between deprivation and criminal behaviour but one doesn’t necessarily cause the other
• May be other factors
• Relied on retrospective data which could be unreliable

Question 9

What are the strengths of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 9

Other evidence supports it

Question 10

What are the weaknesses of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 10

Other factors not considered