Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation Flashcards
what is maternal deprivation
the emotional and intellectual consequences of seperation between a child and his primary caregiver
what does bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation focus on
the idea that continual presence of care from a mother is essential for normal development of babies
what is seperation
the child not being in the presence of the primary attachmnt figure
what is deprivation
extended seperation and the child has no emotional care
what is privation
where a bond has never had the chance to form in the first place
when is the critical period for humans
the first 2.5 years
what effect does maternal deprivation have on intellecutal development
give a study
- experience delayed intellectual development characterised by low IQ
- goldfarb: found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered
what effect does maternal deprivation have on emotional development
- affactionless psychopathy
- this is the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others
- this prevents a person from developing normal relationships
what was bowlbys procedure to research maternal deprivation
- 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing
- interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
- their families alsop interviewed to establsh wether the criminals had prolonged early seperation from their mothers
- he carries out both the interviews and assesments for affectionless psycopathy
what is a limitation of bowlbys research into maternal deprivation
- bolwby conducted both the family interviews and assesemnts for affectionless psycopathy
- this left him open to bias because he knew in advance which teenagers he expected t show signs of psycopathy
what were the findings of bowlbys reseach into maternal deprivation
- 14 of the 44 criminals could be descried as affectionless psycopaths
- 12 of these had experienced prolongued seperation
- bowlby concluded that prolonged early seperation caused affectionless psycopathy
give a study that contradicts bowlbys research into maternal deprivation
hilda lewis
- replicated the 44 thieves study but using 500 young people
- her findings showed no links between prolonged seperation and criminality or inability to form relationships in the future