Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation

Question 1

maternal deprivation definition

Answer 1

the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and his/her mother or mother-substitute. Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development, and that prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual development

Question 2

what did the theory of maternal deprivation focus on

Answer 2

idea that the continual presence of care from a mother or mother-substitute is essential for normal psychological development of babies and toddlers, both emotionally and intellectually.

Question 3

what did Bowlby say about importance of mother

Answer 3

Bowlby 1953 ‘mother-love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins are for physical health’ –> being separated from a mother in early childhood has serious consequences (maternal deprivation)

Question 4

what is separation

Answer 4

the child not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure

Question 5

when is separation a problem

Answer 5

if the child becomes deprived of emotional care (which can happen even if the mother is present as has problems such as depression)

Question 6

separation vs deprivation

Answer 6

brief separations, particularly where the child is with a substitute caregiver who can provide emotional care, are not significant for development but extended separations can lead to deprivation, which by definition causes harm

Question 7

what did Bowlby see as the critical period for psychological development

Answer 7

6 months to 2 and a half years of life

Question 8

what did Bowlby think happened as a result of separation in the critical period

Answer 8

critical period for psychological development is the first 2 and half years. If a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable care and so deprived of her emotional care for an extended duration during this critical period then psychological damage was inevitable. he also believed there was a continuing risk up to the the of 5

Question 9

effects of development - intellectual development being affected by maternal deprivation

Answer 9

maternal deprivation affects children’s intellectual development. Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they world experience delayed intellectual development, characterised by abnormally low IQ. this has been demonstrated in studies if adoption. for example, Goldfarb 1947 found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care

Question 10

effects of development- intellectual development Goldfarb study findings

Answer 10

Goldfarb 1947 found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care

Question 11

effects on development - emotional development affected by maternal deprivation

Answer 11

being deprived of a mother figure’s emotional care affects children is in their emotional development. Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others. This prevents a person developing fulfilling relationships and is associated with criminality. affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions

Question 12

what 2 ways does maternal deprivation affect development

Answer 12

-intellectual development
-emotional development

Question 13

What was Bowlby’s 1944 research

Answer 13

44 thieves

Question 14

when did Bowlby do the 44 thieves research

Answer 14

1944

Question 15

what was the aim of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study

Answer 15

to examine the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation

Question 16

Bowlby’s 44 thieves procedure

Answer 16

-sample was 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing
-all thieves were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy (which is characterised by a lack of affection, lack of guilt about their actions and lack of empathy for their victims). their families were interviewed in order to establish whether the thieves has prolonged early separations form their mothers. the sample was compared to a control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally-disturbed young people

Question 17

Bowlby’s 44 thieves sample

Answer 17

44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing

Question 18

Bowlby’s 44 thieves control group

Answer 18

44 no -criminal but emotionally-disturbed young people

Question 19

Bowlby’s 44 thieves findings

Answer 19

-14/44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first 2 years of their lives
-only 5 of the remaining 30 thieves had separations
-only 2/44 participants in the control group had experienced long separations
-Bowlby concluded that prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy

Question 20

limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - flawed evidence

Answer 20

-poor quality if evidence it was based on
-Bowlby’s 44 thieves study is flawed because Bowlby himself carried out both the family interviews and assessments for affectionless psychopathy. this left him open to bias because he knew in advance which teenagers he expected to show signs of psychopathy. other sources of evidence were equally flawed. for example, Bowlby was also influenced by the findings of Goldfarb’s 1943 research on the development of deprived children in wartime orphanages. this study ahs problems ofc confounding variables because the children in Goldfarb’s study had experienced early trauma and institutional care as well as prolonged separation form their primary caregivers –> means that Bowlby’s original sources of evidence for maternal deprivation had serious flaws and would not be taken seriously as evidence nowadays

Question 21

strength of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - counterpoint to flawed evidence

Answer 21

-new line of research has provided some modest support for the idea that maternal deprivation can have long-term effects. Levy et al 2003 showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development though not other aspects of their development –> means that although Bowlby relied on flawed evidence to support the theory of maternal deprivation, there are other sources of evidence for his ideas

Question 22

limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - deprivation and privation

Answer 22

-confusion between different types of early experience
-Rutter 1981 drew an important distinction between 2 types of early negative experience. deprivation strictly refers to the loss of the primary attachment figure after an attachment has developed. Privation is the failure to form ant attachment in the first place which may take place when children are bought into institutional care. Rutter pointed out that the sever long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is actually more likely to be the result of privation. So the children studies by Goldfarb may actually have been proved rather than deprived. similarly, may of the children in the 44 thieves study had disrupted early lives such as spells in the hospital and may never have formed sting attachments –> means that Bowlby may have overestimated the seriousness of the effects of deprivation in the children’s development

Question 23

limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - critical vs sensitive periods

Answer 23

-idea of the critical period
-for Bowlby, damage was inevitable is a child had not formed an attachment in the first 2 and a half years of life. Hence this a critical period. however, there is evidence to suggest that in many cases good quality aftercare can prevent most or all of this damage. for example Koluchova 1976 reported the care of Czech twins. the twins experiences very severe physical and emotional abuse from the age of 18 months up until they were 7 years old. although they were severely damaged emotionally by their experience they relieved excellent care and by their teens hey has recovered fully –> means that lasting harm is not inevitable even in cases of severe privation. the critical period is therefore better seen as a sensitive period

Question 24

evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - conflicting evidence

Answer 24

-most attempts to replicate the 44 thieves study failed to produce similar results, for example, Lewis 1954 looked at 500 young people and found no association between early separation and later psychopathy such as criminality or relationship difficulties
-however, more recent research for example Gao et al 2010 has partially supported Bowlby by showing that poor quality maternal care was associated with high rates is psychopathy in adults