Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
What was Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis
Prolonged deprivation of a young child of maternal care may have grave and far - reaching effects on his character… similar in form… to deprivation of vitamins in infancy
What did Bowlby believe about emotional care (A01)
Continuous (maternal) care from a mother or mother substitute is necessary for NORMAL emotional and intellectual development.
What did Bowlby believe about separation between infant and caregiver (A01)
Separation MAY lead to maternal deprivation, he was convinced that MOTHER-Love was as important to mental health as vitamins are to physical health.
What did Bowlby believe about separation and deprivation (A01)
They are different. Separation means the child not being in the physical presence of the primary attachment figure. Deprivation means losing emotional care as a result of the separation. Separation doesn’t always lead to deprivation. (Substitute Care)
What did Bowlby say about seperation in the critical/sensitive period (A01)
Separation (without suitable substitute) during the first 2.5 years, leads to inevitable psychological damage. There continues to be a risk up to 5 years.
What did Bowlby say about intellectual development and deprivation (A01)
Deprivation of emotional care for a long period during the critical period leads to mental retardation.
when was Bowlby’s critical period
6 months
When was Bowlby’s sensitive period
2.5 years
What were Goldfarb’s findings (A01)
Children from institutions had lower IQ than those in foster care.
What did Bowlby believe lack of emotional care may lead to (A01)
Lack of emotional care may lead to affectionless psychopathy. This is the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others. Linked to criminality
Evaluate Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory based on research support (Strength)
Bowlby (1944) supported his theory with the Forty-Four Thieves study, 44 child thieves and a control group of 44 emotionally disturbed non-thieves were interviewed to assess affectionless psychopathy and parents were asked about maternal deprivation during the critical period.
It was found 14 thieves matched the criteria for affectionless psychopathy compared to none of the control group.
12 of the thieves had experienced prolonged separation compared to only two of the control group. This suggests a link between maternal deprivation and delinquency.
Evaluate Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation based on the research not identifying whether children had suffered from deprivation or privation (Weakness)
One major criticism of Bowlby’s MDT is that it is not clear exactly whether the children observed in his study had already formed attachments and then were broken (deprivation) or whether they had not formed any attachment initially (privation).
Rutter (1981) argued a distinction needed to be made as he believed a lack of attachment bond and privation would have far more of a negative impact on the child’s mental development than deprivation and an attachment bond being broken.
Therefore in Bowlby’s study it may be that the children who displayed the greatest signs of “emotionless psychopathy” had experienced privation rather than deprivation which would undermine Bowlby’s theory.
Evaluate Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation based on real world application (Strength + Weakness)
Bowlby’s work on attachment led to significant positive changes to policies related to child welfare, such as visiting time for mothers in hospitals, the ratio of carers and infants at nursery school and the length of maternity leave.
While this has improved child welfare it has also impacted the economy as nursery places are now more expensive.
Social sensitivity should also be considered as the focus on maternity rather than paternity leave may have resulted in an increase in the gender pay gap, with women missing opportunities for development and promotion.
