Attachment - maternal deprivation Flashcards
what happened in 1945 that meant insecure attachments were more common?
end of WW2.
children were homeless, orphaned or evacuated, meaning they were away from their mothers and so missing the critical period
what does deprivation from a caregiver during critical period cause
harmful effects on child’s development
why did Bowlby look into health of homeless children in post-war Europe?
he was commissioned by the WHO (world health organisation) to write a report
consequences of deprivation
low IQ
affectionless psychopathy
criminality (delinquency)
separation
only becomes a problem if child is not given any care, brief separations aren’t significant
what causes psychological damage
extended separation (deprivation) with no caregiver substitute within the first 30 months
Robertson and Bowlby PDD model (1952)
short term separation and deprivation both cause this model.
Protest - crying panic, angry and fearful
Despair - acceptance. loss of hope, self-comfort
Detachment - indifference/anger towards caregiver, less distress
affectionless psychopathy
no guilt or strong emotions for others
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study (1944)
natural experiment, independent groups study where he interviewed children and parents, IQ tests and observed attitudes.
88 emotionally maladjusted children (44 thieves and 44 not thieves)
findings of 44 thieves study
- 86% affectionless thieves experienced deprivation
- 17% not affectionless thieves experienced deprivation
- 5% non-thieves experienced deprivation
- more than 50% separated from mother for 6+ months during critical period.
- maternal deprivation leads to affectionless psychopathy and delinquency
privation
no attachments formed with anyone at all
evidence of privation
brain scans look difference in those that experienced privation and those who didn’t
case studies used as its so rare
example of case study in privation
Genie. 13 years old but cognitively 13 months old. treated people like objects, irreparable damage
AO3 of case studies
+ high ecological validity
+ more ethical than creating these situations
- no control so low internal validity and can’t reproduce
- can’t generalise
long term developmental effects
lower IQ
affectionless psychopathy
dwarfism (shorter, sleep problems, larger appetite)
anaclitic depression
Koluchova (1976) czech twins case study
adopted at 7, formed attachment then after being abused and privation for years.
shows effects of privation are reversible? at 11 their speech was normal and at 15 their IQ was normal.
they always had eachother so did they form attachments to eachother?
strengths of research on maternal deprivation?
+ real world applications , substitute emotional care can reduce impacts of separation and deprivation
+ evidence - Robertson filmed infant in care home when mum was in hospital for 9 days. distressed.
Robertson filmed 2 year old in hospital for 8 days, distressed and begged to go home
limitations of research on maternal deprivation?
- individual differences
- unclear if deprivation or privation has been studied in some cases
- retrospective recall from 44 thieves may be inaccurate
- investigator effects
- conclusions are correlational
- evidence - Lewis repeated 44 thieves with 500 children, deprivation did not predict criminality or future relationships
Robertson and Robertson (1967-73)
- 2 yr old hospital for 8 days
- visited occasionally by parents and begs to go home
- eventually tries to cope with disappointment of staying (PDD model)
- real life applications
