Attachment - Maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisation Flashcards
Outline the theory of maternal deprivation?
Bowlby proposed that prolonged emotional deprivation lead to bad emotional development
1) Study: 44 juvenile thieves
Procedure: analysed case histories of number of patients in child guidance clinic, these children were emotionally maladjusted: studied 88 ppl , half had been caught stealing and other half were a control group. Bowlby suggested thieves were emotionless psycopaths
Findings: found that those diagnosed as affectionless had frequently been separated from mother as infant. 86% of affectionless ones had been separated. None of the control participants had early separations. suggests that it leads to emotional maladjustment
2) Critical period: found that they will only be affectionless psycopaths if they are separated for long periods before they are aged 2.5 and if there is no substitute mother
3)Long term consequences: suggested that the consequence of long term separation is emotional maladjustment
4) Value of maternal care : show that infants need a warm and continuous relationship with mother.
4 evaluation points for maternal deprivation?
1) Application: had impact on post war thinking on childcare. Led to major social change in how children are kept in hospitals etc.
2) Physical and emotional separation: Not only physical separation can cause this but also psychological, study found group of mothers who were depressed to have 55% insecure attachments whereas 29% in control group
3) Individual differences: Barnett found that some securely attached kids not as badly affected by separation whereas insecurely attached ones tend to be.
4) supportfor long term effect: A study found that 25% of women whos mothers had died when younger went on to have depression or anxiety
Outline the Studio on Romanian orphans/effects of institutionalisation
1) Study: Rutter, ongoing study, 165 Romanian children spent early lives in Romanian institutions and suffered effects of institutionalisation. 111 adpoted before age of 2 and 54 before age 4, they were tested at regular intervals of around every 3-4 years to assess cognitive and social development and compared to 52 british children adopted before 6 months
FiNDINGS: they found that at time of adoption, the Romanians were behind but by age 4 some had caught up. Ones adopted after 6 months tended to strugle to adapt socially suggests long term consequences not as severe as believed
2) Effects of institutionalisation:
a) Physical underdevelopment
b) Intellectual underfunctioning
c) Disinhibited attachment: meaning they do not form specific attachments (may get too touchy with unfamiliar ppl)
d) Poor parentng, study found that women who were institutionalised had harder time being parents.
Give 4 evaluation points for romanian orphans?
1) Individual differences: research suggests if they receive special treatment in institutions they are more likely to recover e.g. smiled at
2) Application: led to improving childcare in institutions
3) Deprivation wasnt only factor, in these institutions, the conditions were appalling.
4) very valuable as its a longitudinal study which took many years and is still ongoing .
