Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Theory Flashcards
Who studied maternal deprivation
Bowlby
What is separation
When the baby is not in the presence of the primary attachment figure
When is separation an issue
If the child loses out on an element of care eg. Emotional or social
If the separations are extended and excessively frequent this leads to deprivation
Why do brief separations not cause harm
If they are brief or if you have a substitute career who provides emotional care, then it tends to not have a negative effect on development
What is the role of the critical period
0-2 years
Issues forming relationships later in life if a strong attachment isn’t formed in this time
What happens if the child is denied emotional care in the critical period
Psychological damage is guaranteed to occur and there is a continued risk of this up to the age of 5
What are the two main effects of deprivation
Intellectual development
Emotional development
Characterize delayed intellectual development
Children who experience maternal deprivation have delayed intellectual development characterised by low IQ
Characterised delayed emotional development
Children who experience maternal deprivation would not develop emotionally. This is characterised by afectionless psychopathy.
This is linked to adolescent crimes as they cannot sympathise with their victims
Bowlby s study of maternal deprivation and emotional development
44 thieves study
44 thieves procedure
-44 teens accused of stealing
-Interviewed for signs of psychopathy
-families were then interviewed about the children’s childhoods
-control group of 44 non criminal teens
44 thieves findings
-14 where found to have afectionless psychopathy
-12 experienced extended separation from their mother’s in the critical period
-2 experienced separation in control
