Bowlby’s Theory of maternal deprivation

Question 1

AO1 - Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis.

Answer 1

AO1 - Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis.

Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis suggests that prolonged separation between an infant and their primary caregiver, within the critical period (first 2.5 years of life) with no substitute emotional care, could result in long term cognitive, social, and emotional difficulties for that infant.
Bowlby originally believed that these effects were permanent and irreversible.

Question 2

AO1 - The effects of maternal deprivation

Answer 2

AO1 - The effects of maternal deprivation

Some of the effects of maternal deprivation include:
Affectionless psychopathy (the inability to show guilt/remorse), social maladjustment (the tendency to violate social norms), and delinquency (a young person who often commits minor crimes).

Question 3

AO1 - 44 Juvenile thieves

Answer 3

AO1 - 44 Juvenile thieves
Aim:
The aim was to investigate the long-term effects of maternal deprivation.

Procedure:
Bowlby selected an opportunity sample of 88 children, who attended his clinic.

Half the children became the ‘thief group’, as they were known the for stealing, the other half, the control group.

Findings:
Bowlby identified 14 of the ‘thief group’ as affection-less psychopaths (AP’s).

Of this 14, 12 of them had experienced prolonged separations during their critical period.

Whereas, only a few of the children who weren’t classified as AP’s had experienced separations.

Of the control group, only 2 had experienced separations and none were AP’s.