Attachment: Lesson 6 - Bowlby's Theory Of Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

What is Bowlby’s theory of Maternal deprivation?

Answer 1

• Bowlby (1953) proposed that children who suffer from prolonged emotional deprivation, caused by the absence of their primary attachment figure (usually –but not always –the mother) will have:
  1. long-term intellectual (lower IQ)
  2. social (delinquency)
  3. emotional (affectionless psychopathy) difficulties
  4. mental health issues (such as depression)
• According to the continuity hypothesis these effects are irreversible and will continue into adulthood due to a lack of an internal working model, which could even lead to an inability to be a good parent
• The negative impact of maternal deprivation could occur if the separation occurs before the child is two and a half years old (although there is a risk up to five years old) and there is no substitute mother-figure available to take over the emotional careof the child

Question 2

What study did Bowlby carry out to prove his maternal deprivation theory? (Bowlby 1944)

Answer 2

• Bowlby analysed the case histories of a number of his patients in the Child Guidance Clinic in London where he worked
• All the children attending this clinic were emotionally maladjusted
• He studied 88 of these children, half of whom had been caught stealing (44 thieves), the other half were a control group
• Bowlby suggested that 14of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths; they lacked affection, shame and responsibility for their actions.

Question 3

What are the findings of Bowlby 1944?

Answer 3

• Bowlby found that those individuals who had been diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experienced frequent early separations form their mothers (repeated stays in foster care, time in hospital etc.)
• 14 of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced frequent separations from their mothers compared with only 5 out of 30 of the thieves who were not classed as affectionless psychopaths
• Almost none of the control group had experienced early separations from their mothers

Question 4

Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory if Maternal Deprivation (hospitals) (+)

Answer 4

+ before Bowlby’s theory hospitals would not allow parents to visit their children during stays in hospital
+ this had a profound and damaging effect on their children
+ nowadays hospitals encourage parents to stay with children

Question 5

Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory if Maternal Deprivation (Spitz, orphanage in South America) (+)

Answer 5

+ Spitz (1945) examined children raised in a poor quality orphanage in South America
+ Members of staff were overworked, under trained and rarely gave the children any attention or affection
+ The children displayed anaclitic depression (loss of appetite, sleeplessness and sadness)

Question 6

Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory if Maternal Deprivation (effects of maternal deprivation reversible, Tizard et al) (+)

Answer 6

• The effects of maternal deprivation have been shown to be reversible
• Children who had never formed attachments and were adopted after the age of four were still able to form attachments to their new parents (Tizard et al. 1989)

Question 7

Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory if Maternal Deprivation (deprivation vs privation) (+)

Answer 7

• Bowlby did not really distinguish between deprivation (when the attachment figure is lost) and privation(when the child has never formed an attachment)
• It could be the latter that causes the extreme negative effects observed in some studies