Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation Flashcards
what is short-term separation
Consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures i.e. being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation
what is privation
Never having formed an attachment bond
what is institutionalisation
Childcare provided by orphanages and children’s homes
what is long-term deprivation
Involves lengthy or permanent separations from attachment figures causing significant disruption to the attachment bond i.e. due to divorce, death or imprisonment of a parent and resulting adoption by different caregivers
The value of Maternal Care
It was once assumed that a good standard of food and physical care was the key importance of good care. If children were separated from their caregivers, then all that was necessary was to maintain this standard (….Learning Theory of attachment – ‘cupboard love’)
In contrast, Bowlby believed that it was not enough to make sure that a child was well-fed and kept safe and warm.
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation: Key ideas
Bowlby believed that infants and children needed a ‘warm, intimate and continuous relationship’ with a mother (or permanent mother substitute e.g. grandmother) to ensure continuing normal mental health.
A young child who is denied such care because of frequent and/or prolonged separations that disrupt the attachment bond may become emotionally disturbed.
what did Bowlby suggest
Bowlby suggested that the long-term consequence of deprivation was emotional maladjustment or even mental health problems i.e. depression. Social development may be affected if they form no/a poor internal working model, making it difficult to relate to others and form/maintain relationships (peer/romantic) later on in life.
Bowlby (1944): 44 Juvenile Thieves
Bowlby tested his maternal deprivation theory on a sample of 88 children (aged 5-16 years) who had been referred to a child guidance clinic.
44 of the children had been referred because of stealing, and Bowlby identified 14 of the thieves as ‘affectionless psychopaths’ (a behaviour disorder in which the individual has no sense of shame or guilt and lacks a social conscience).
The other 44 children had not committed any crimes and, although they had some emotional difficulties, were not anti-social and none were affectionless psychopaths.
Bowlby interviewed all 88 children and their families, focusing specifically on their early life experiences.
what were the findings of Bowlby (1944): 44 Juvenile Thieves
Findings:
86% of the 14 children diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experienced prolonged periods of separation from their mothers.
Only 17% of the other thieves (28 children) had experienced separations from their mothers.
Less than 4% of the non-thieves (44 children) control group had experienced such separations.
what are the conclusions of Bowlby (1944): 44 Juvenile Thieves
These findings suggest a link between early separations and later social and emotional maladjustment.
In its most severe form, maternal deprivation appears to lead to affectionless psychopathy.
In its less severe form, it leads to antisocial behaviour (theft).
These findings support Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation.
The data collection was retrospective:
Parents may not have recalled separations during infancy accurately and may have over/underestimated the frequency.
How do we know whether these children experienced deprivation (loss of emotional care) or whether they had good substitute emotional care during the separations?
The data may therefore be unreliable.
The results are correlational:
A cause-and-effect relationship cannot be established: We can say that deprivation/separation and affectionless psychopathy are linked, but not that deprivation causes affectionless psychopathy.
Rutter (1976)
interviewed 2000+ boys and their families on the Isle of Wight (aged 9-12) and found that if the separation was due to the physical illness or death of the mother, there was no correlation or association with delinquency. However, if it was due to psychiatric illness or family discord, then the boys were 4x more likely to become delinquent.
Therefore, it is family discord - rather than separation on its own – that causes delinquency and emotional maladjustment.
:( Flawed evidence
Bowlby drew on a number of sources of evidence for maternal deprivation, including studies of children orphaned during the Second World War, those growing up in poor quality orphanages, and his 44 thieves study.
However, war orphans were traumatised and often had poor after-care, therefore these factors might have been the causes of later developmental difficulties rather than separation. Similarly, children growing up from birth in poor quality institutions were deprived of many aspects of care, not just maternal care.
Furthermore, the 44 thieves study had some major design flaws, most importantly, researcher bias; Bowlby himself carried out the assessments for affectionless psychopathy and the family interviews, knowing what he hoped to find.
Counter-Evidence
Not all research has supported Bowlby’s findings.
For example, Lewis (1954) partially replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people. In her sample a history of prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty in forming close relationships.
