Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Theory Flashcards
term: separation
temporary, long term absence of PAF
eg mother going to work
term: deprivation
child has formed an attachment but then lost, permenant
eg death/divorce
term: privation
child never had the opportunity to form attachment
eg orphaned, mother died at childbirth
5 key details of his theory
1- focuses on continual presence of care
2- short sep not problematic as long as w substitute caregiver
3- deprivation before 2.5yrs= likely emotional and intellectual disturbed
4- deprivation occur if mother present but don’t provide emotional care
5- maternal care describe motherly love which can be provided by any mother substitute
effects on intellectual development
- delayed intellectual development
- abnormally low IQ
- Goldfarb: lower IQ in children in institutions opposed to those who were fostered
effects on emotional development
- affectionless psychopathy- unable have guilt/strong emotions
- unable to develop normal relationships
- associated with criminality
- lack of remorse for actions
Aim: Bowlby 44 Thieves
investigate the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
Method: Bowlby 44 Thieves
- 44 criminal teens accused of stealing
- interviews for signs of affectionless psychopathy
- families interviewed if had prolonged early sep
- compared to control group of 44 non-criminals but emotionally disturbed
Results: Bowlby 44 Thieves
- 14/44 thieves= affection less psychopathy
- 12/14= prolonged sep in first 2yrs
- 2/44 control group= had prolonged separation
how does Bowlby’s 44 thieves support his theory of maternal deprivation?
children that are deprived have behaviour linked to criminality and affectionless psychopathy
Evaluation of 44 thieves
L- only looked for relationship between deprivation and affection less psychopathy. There could be confounding variables
L- retrospective data. Recalling events from long time ago so inaccurate
L- self report. Conducted himself. Influenced outcome
L- research bias. Carried out himself
Strengths of maternal deprivation
- Supporting research 44 thieves
- Supporting research Levy
- Real world applications Foster caree
Levy
- separating rats from their mothers for as little as a day had permanent effect on social development
- cant generalise
real world applications
- fostercare/mothers in prison
- eg in hospitals parents can stay in hospital to avoid deprivation.
- daycare- consistent workers reduce effects of deprivation
Limitations of maternal deprivation
- Conflicting research- Lewis
- Terminology used unclear Deprivation and Privation
conflicting evidence
Lewis
- attempts to replicate the 44 thieves and failed to produce similar results.
- looked at 500 young people and found no association between early sep and later psychopathy
- lacks reliability
how is the terminology unclear between deprivation and privation?
- long term effects due to privation not deprivation
- Rutter drew on important distinction between 2 types of early neg experiences
- deprivation refers to loss of primary attachment figure after attachment has developed
- privation is failure to form any attachment, may happen in institional care
- severe long term damage associated with deprivation is more likely from privation
- questions validity
What happens if a child experiences deprivation before 2.5 years?
Emotionally and intellectually disturbed
How can deprivation happen if the mother is still present?
If they do not provide emotional care like drug abuse/alcoholicism
What is maternal care?
Used to describe motherly love which could be provided by any mother substitute
