Bowlby Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

When was it proposed

Answer 1

1951, prior to monotropic theory

Question 2

What does maternal deprivation focus on

Answer 2

focuses on how the effects of early experiences may interfer with the usual processes of attachment formation

Question 3

What did bowlby propose

Answer 3

bowlby proposed that separation or deprivation from the mother or mother substitute - primary caregiver would have a serious impact on the physical psychological and emotional development of a child and have long term consequences

Question 4

What is deprivation

Answer 4

not having the things or conditions that are considered necessary - in attachment terms the loss or lack of emotional and physical care usually provided by pcg during the critical and sensitive periods

Question 5

What is seperation

Answer 5

the action or state of moving or being apart in attachment terms this is a period spent away from pcg once the attachment has been formed can be short term- minute hours day or long term- days weeks ,months years. This can be within the critical or sensitive period

Question 6

What is maternal deprivation

Answer 6

the emotional and intellectual consequences of having short or long term separation during the critical or sensitive period, can be physical or emotional absence

Question 7

How long does a child need continuous care from the pcg for

Answer 7

2 years (sensitive period)

Question 8

What are the 5 main consequences of maternal deprivation

Answer 8

1. delinquency (criminal behaviour)
2. Low IQ
3. Increased levels of aggression
4. Higher rates of depression
5. Affection-less psychopathy: behavioural pattern shown by inability to show affection or concern for others ( lack of guilt or empathy) etc e.g acting on impulse without consequences

Question 9

Why could mothering be useless

Answer 9

If delayed or not formed in the critical period

Question 10

Strengths of maternal deprivation

Answer 10

• supporting research (bowlby 1944,44 thieves study) found a positive correlation between AP,MD and criminal behaviour
• Other research highlights MD ( robertson and Robertson, goldfarb and spitz and spitz and wolf) has consequences
• Highlights the importance of the attachment process during early life as if it is distrusted there are consequences
• Continue to show the importance of the mother child relationship
• Reflects the importance of the mother (PCG) at a time when men did very little regarding the care of their children

Question 11

Weaknesses of maternal deprivation

Answer 11

• researcher bias- bowlby wrote the theory and conducted one of the pieces of supporting research himself, diagnosing AP
• Over emphasises MD what about PD
• Does not explain MD and no long term consequences forming normal relationships
• Reflects the 1950s amd N/A to 2000+

Question 12

what made the world be aware of the Romanian orphans

Answer 12

Fall of nicolae ceausescu in 1989
100,000 children In over 600 orphanages

Question 13

How where children treated in Romanian orphanages

Answer 13

The conditions were deplorable and the children where extremely deprived
Children where malnourished and spent most days alone in cribs lacking in physical social auditory and visual stimulation

Question 14

What is an institution

Answer 14

place dedicated to a particular task e.g school,hospital,orphanage and prison

Question 15

What is institutionalisation

Answer 15

the impact of institutional care seen in those individuals who have been institutionalised beyond their control, the longer time the more impact

Question 16

What is privation

Answer 16

the failure to form an attachment, no monotropic relationship

Question 17

Why would someone be put into an institution

Answer 17

• orphanage
• No suitable relatives
• Neglect
• Abuse
• Easier to group children of that behaviour in one place

Question 18

Effects of insitionilasation

Answer 18

• physical underdevelopment- developmental dwarfism
• Low IQ
• Poor parents themselves- links to internal working model
• Negative peer and adult relationships
• Disinhibited attachment- a form of insecure attachment where institutionalised children show certain behaviours compared to children who have not e.g attention seeking behaviour

Question 19

Links between maternal deprivation insitionilasation amd attachment

Answer 19

• attachment needed for survival
• early years key role
• monotropic attachment
• effects of privation seen in those in institutions

Question 20

What is disinhibited attachment

Answer 20

Behaviours shown by children who have been institutionalised e.g rocking

Question 21

When was Rutters research proposed

Answer 21

2007

Question 22

What did rutter examine

Answer 22

examined romanian orphans adopted into the uk after experiencing insitionilasation

Question 23

What is the critical period

Answer 23

• First 30 months
o If child is separated from mother in absence of suitable substitute care and so deprived for an extended period of time, then psychological damage is inevitable

Question 24

Explain 44 thieves study

Answer 24

BOWLBY’S 44 THIEVES STUDY
• Aim: examined links between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
• Procedure: used a sample of 44 teenage delinquents. Ppts interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy. Interviewed families to established whether there was prolonged early separation from their mothers.
• Control group of 44 non-criminal teenagers, with emotional problems were all assessed to see how often maternal deprivation occurred to the children who were not thieves.
• Results: 14/44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths
• 12 out of 14 were maternally separated in the first 2 years
• In control group 2/44 had maternal separation but 0/44 weren’t affectionless psychopaths
• Conclusion: prolonged separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy

Question 25

Cons of bowlbys md

Answer 25

• Poor quality evidence: Bowlby uses family interviews and assessments for affectionless psychopathy - open to bias (knew what teenagers to he expected to show signs of psychopathology

• Rutter et al
• Deprivation- loss of primary attachment figure AFTER attachment develops.
• PRIVATION - failure to form ANY attachment.
• Damage more likely to be result of privation - 44 thieves never formed strong attachments.
Therefore Bowlby overestimated the seriousness of effects of deprivation in children’s development
• This lowers validity — lacks accuracy.
• Sensitive period: Bowlby overestimated as critical period is more of a sensitive period.
• Koluchova (Czech Twins) faced severe physical + emotional abuse from 18 months- 7 years.
• Received excellent aftercare and were fully recovered by teenage years.
• Lasting harm is not inevitable even in cases of severe privation