Attachment: Maternal deprivation

Question 1

Maternal deprivation

Answer 1

The emotional and intellectual damage caused by prolonged separation from the mother or mother substitute during the critical period (up to two and a half years)

Question 2

Bowlby’s 44 thieves study

Answer 2

Interviewed 44 criminal teenagers for signs of affectionless psychopathy, such as lack of affection, empathy and guilt and interviewed families to see if they had prolonged early separation from mothers
Found that 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths, and 12 of these had prolonged separation from their mothers in the first 2 years of their lives
Concluded that prolonged early separation causes affectionless psychopathy

Question 3

Theory of maternal deprivation - Bowlby (1951)

Answer 3

Continual presence of nurture from a mother or mother-substitute is essential for normal psychological development of babies and toddlers, both emotionally and intellectually
Being separated from a mother in early childhood has serious consequences (maternal deprivation)

Question 4

The critical period

Answer 4

Bowlby saw the first 30 months of life as a critical period for psychological development
If a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable substitute care for an extended period of time during the critical period, Bowlby believed psychological damage was inevitable

Question 5

Effects of maternal deprivation on intellectual development

Answer 5

Goldfarb (1947) found lower IQ in children in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered

Question 6

Effects of maternal deprivation on emotional development

Answer 6

Bowlby found children who had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers were more likely to be described as showing signs of affectionless psychopathy

Question 7

Robertson and Robertson (1949)

Answer 7

Supports Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation as it shows that after a period of prolonged separation from their mother without a substitute primary caregiver, children may become distressed, detached, anxious or reject their mother when reunited
Practical application has helped improve care for children separated from their mother

Question 8

Strengths of maternal deprivation

Answer 8

Levy et al (2003) showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development, providing some support for the idea that maternal deprivation can have long term effects

Question 9

Weaknesses of maternal deprivation

Answer 9

Many of the studies Bowlby used had flaws - orphans were often traumatised, the 44 thieves study had major design flaws in the Bowlby carried out the assessments himself
Lewis (1954) partially replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale and found that a history of prolonged early separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships, contrary to Bowlby’s findings
Koluchova (1976) reported the case of twin boys who were isolated from 18 months to 7 years, but recovered fully after being adopted by two loving adults
Rutter (1976) claimed Bowlby was confusing deprivation with privation and was not actually studying what he intended to