Bowlby's maternal deprivation Flashcards
What did Bowlby propose?
Prolonged emotional deprivation would have long term consequences in terms of emotional development
What was the name of Bowlbys key study?
44 Juvenile thieves
What was the procedures of Bowlbys key study?
-Analysed the case histories of a number 88 patients in the Child Guidance Clinic in London (where he worked)
-All children attending were emotionally maladjusted
-44 of the patients had been caught stealing and the other half were a control group
What did Bowlby suggest about the 44 thieves?
They were affectionless psychopaths - lacked normal signs of affection, shame and sense of responsibility - they did not care about stealing from others
What were the main finding of Bowlbys key study?
Those diagnosed as affectionless thieves had experienced frequent early separations m their mothers
What percentage of affectionless thieves experienced frequent early separations from their mother?
86%
What do Bowlbys findings suggest?
Early separations are linked to affectionless psychopathy.
-Lack of continuous care may well cause emotional maladjustment or even mental disorder
What did Bifulco et al (1992) illustrate in her classic study?
-25% of women who had experienced separation from their mothers later experienced depression or an anxiety disorder compared to 15% who had no experience of separation
-Mental health problems greater in those women who’s separation occurred before age 6
What real world application is there to support maternal deprivation? (Robertson)
-2 year old girl (Laura) was filmed during the eight day period she was in hospital
-She was found frequently distressed and begs to go home
-Bowlby and Robertsons work led to a major social change in the way that children were care for in hospital
What is Rutter’s deprivation vs privation criticism about?
-He claims Bowlby does not make it clear whether the Childs attachment bond had formed but been broken or had never been formed in the first place
-Rutter argued the lack of an attachment bond would have potentially far more serious consequences for a child than the loss of an attachment bond
-He uses the term privation to refer to situations where the the child fails to develop an attachment to one caregiver and deprivation to refer to situations where a bond does develop but is lost or disrupted
-Lack of clarity therefore negatively impacts the validity of Bowlbys findings
