Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
bowlby maternal deprivation 5 ao1
separation versus deprivation - physical separation only leads to deprivation when the child loses emotional care
critical period - first 2.5 years are critical and deprivation in that time causes damage
Goldfarb - deprivation causes low IQ
Bowlby - deprivation of emotional care leads to affectionless psychopathy
Bowlby’s research - many more affectionless psychopaths than controls had prolonged early separations
maternal dep - critical period
good quality aftercare was able to prevent majority of damage eg Czech twins – experienced severe physical and emotional abuse until 7 years old were able to fully recover after receiving excellent care – ‘sensitive period’ more appropriate
maternal dep - flawed evidence
family interviews and assessments – open to bias – Goldfarb’s research – problems with confounding variables due to the children having experienced early trauma alongside the prolonged separation – original sources of evidence have serious flaws and would not be adequate evidence nowadays
maternal dep - flawed evidence counterpoint
new line of research is able to support the idea of long-term effects – Levy – separation of baby rat from it’s mother for as little as a day – permanent effect on social development – but not other aspects – some evidence for Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation even though he relied on flawed evidence
maternal dep - conflicting evidence
attempts to replicate Bowlby’s 44 thieves study failing to produce similar results – Lewis – replicated the 44 thieves study with 500 young people – early prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty in forming close relationships
maternal dep - supporting evidence
animal studies – Harlow – research showed monkeys who were deprived of real mother became more aggressive and struggled to form attachments in the future – idea that maternal deprivation causing aggression is supported
