Attachment - Maternal deprivation - Bowlby 44 theives Flashcards
What is separation?
Not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure.
What is deprivation?
The emotional and intellectual consequence resulting from prolonged separation from the main attachment figure.
What is privation?
The failure to develop any attachments during early life.
What is the critical period of infants believed to be?
2 and a half years.
Describe Bowlby’s 44 thieves study.
An opportunity sample of 44 thieves and 44 controls of children aged 5-16 and a mix of boys and girls were selected from the clinic where Bowlby worked at. Their IQ was tested and they and their parents were interviewed to record details of separation. They were also rated for affectionless psychopathy - having no affection for others or guilt of actions.
What were the findings of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
19 children had experienced maternal deprivation.
12/19 of these were found to be affectionless psychopaths.
17/19 of these were thieves.
Only 2/19 were neither affectionless psychopaths nor thieves.
What was the conclusion of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
Bowlby concluded that maternal deprivation in the child’s early life caused affectionless psychopathy, delinquency and low IQ.
What are the limitations of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
The IV was having maternal deprivation or not, which wasn’t manipulated by the researchers. Therefore, Bowlby cannot show that it is maternal deprivation itself which causes poor outcomes, it could be another factor.
Mothers may lie or show social desirability bias and not accurately report that their child was left alone at one point.
Researcher bias - Bowlby may have picked specific participants or researchers discussed and shared information.
How does Spitz’s study support Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?
37% of children without their mother died within two years, whereas all children with their mother in prison stayed alive. It suggests separation from mother causes poor outcomes for the children.
What counter-evidence is there against Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?
Lewis - carried out a partial replication and found in her study prolonged early separation was not associated with criminality or social difficulties.
Koluchova’s case of study of brothers who were kept in a cupboard from age 1.5 to 7. After age 7 they were looked after by two adults and appeared to recover fully.
Rutter claimed Bowlby was muddling ‘deprivation’ and ‘privation’.
