Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
What is maternal deprivation?
Emotional and intellectual consequences of a mother-child separation
What did Bowlby say about the significance of the mother?
- Continual prescence of care is essential for normal psychological development
What is separation?
- Child not in the prescence of a primary attachment figure
What is deprivation, and how does it occur?
- Child is deprived of emotional care
- Extended separations can lead to deprivation
What is the critical period according to Bowlby?
- 2.5 years
- Continuing risk up to 5 years
What are the 2 effects of deprivation on development?
- Intellectual development
- Emotional development
What is the intellectual development effect?
- Delayed intelllectual development (low IQ)
What is the emotional development effect?
- Affectionless psychopathy- inability to experience strong guilt or emotions
- Prevents people from developing fulfilling relationships
- Associated with criminality
- Lack of remorse
What did Bowlby intend to study?
- 44 thieves study= link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
What was Bowlby’s procedure?
- 44 criminal teens (thieves)
- Interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
- Families interviewed to see if teens had prolonged separations
- Compared to control group (44 non-criminal, but emotional disturbed)
What were Bowlby’s findings?
- 14/44= affectionless psychopaths
- 12/14 experiences prolonged separation
- 5/30 (remaining) experienced prolonged separations
- 2/44 (control) experienced prolonged separation
- Concluded= prolonged deprivation causes affectionless psychopathy
What are the strengths of research into maternal deprivation?
- Research evidence
What are the limitations of research into maternal deprivation?
- Flawed evidence
- Deprivation and privation
- Critical vs sensitive period
Strength:
I- Research evidence supports Bowlby’s theory
D- Levy et al showed that separating baby rats from mothers had permenant effects on social development (long-term effects)
E- Sources of evidence to support
Limitation-
I- Evidence is flawed
D- 44 thieves study carried out by Bowlby- open to bias (knew who experienced separations in advance). Goldfarb- development of kids in wartime orphanages- confounding variables
E- Sources of evidence had serious flaws and are seen as invalid
Limitation-
I- Confusion over deprivation vs privation
D- Rutter drew a distinction between the 2. Deprivation= loss of primary attachment figure, after attachment has developed. Bowlby and Goldfarb’s studies shows privation
E- Overestimated seriousness of deprivational effects on development
Limitation-
I- Confusion over critical vs sensitive period
D- Koluchova’s case of Czech twins- physical and emotional abuse from 18 months to 7 years. Received care and fully recovered by teens- aftercare prevents damage
E- Lasting harm is not inevitable, so critical period is more likely a sensitive period
Strength-
I- Further research support
D- Goldfarb studied 30 orphans up to the age of 12. 1/2 of the sample had been fostered by 4 months old vs 1/2 remained in an orphanage. IQ tested at 12. Fostered= 96, orphans= 68
E- Supports Bowlby’s view that deprivation results in delayed intellectual development
