Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
What is the difference between separation and deprivation?
Separation means the child isn’t in the presence of the primary attachment figure and they are normally for short periods of time where there is a substitute caregiver. Deprivation is when separations are longer and can cause harm to development.
What is the critical period?
Bowlby said that the first 30 months of life were critical for development and if a child is separated from their mother, psychological damage was inevitable.
What were the two types of development which Bowlby proposed were affected by maternal deprivation?
Intellectual development and emotional development
What found about intellectual development?
Children who were deprived of maternal care during the critical period suffered delayed intellectual development, characterised by a low IQ. Goldfarb found that chilfren who remained in institutions compared to those who were fostered had lower IQ’s
What was found about emotional development?
Bowlby found maternal deprivation also led to delayed emotional development and found a link between affectionless psychopathy and emotional development.
What happened in Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
44 criminal teenagers were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy and their parents were also interviewed to find out whether there was prolonged separation from their parents at birth. A control group of non-criminal, emotionally disturbed young people was also used to look at maternal deprivation. It found that 14 of the 44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths and of these 14, 12 had experienced prolonged maternal separation in the first 2 years of life. In the control group only 2 of the 44 had experienced long separations. He concluded that prolonged separation caused affectionless psychopathy.
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Animal studies such as Harlow’s study support the long term effects of maternal deprivation
What are the weaknesses of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
The evidence is poor as Bowlby carried out the studies himself, doing the research and interviews.
There is counter evidence fron Lewis who found prolonged separation in childhood did not predict criminality or difficulty forming relationships.
The critical period may be more of a sensitive period as there are studies which shows children who suffered maternal deprivation could recover fully.
Rutter claimed there Bowlby’s research was actually showing privation as they didn’t form an attachment in the first place, rather than deprivation.
