Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
Who proposed theory of maternal deprivation?
John Bowlby (1951)
Maternal deprivation hypothesis
Continual presence of nurturing from the mother is essential for the normal psychological development of babies and toddlers. Bowlby said that mother love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins. Being separated from a mother in early childhood has serious consequences.
Deprivation
Losing an element of care
What is the critical period for psychological development?
30 months
What are the two ways in which maternal deprivation is harmful?
Intellectual development and emotional development
intellectual development
If children were deprived of maternal care for too long they would suffer delayed intellectual development through a low IQ. Studies like Goldfarb (1947)
Goldfarb (1947)
Found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered.
Emotional development
Bowlby believed if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they could become affectionless psychopaths
Affectionless psychopathy
Inability to experience guilt or strong emotions for others, preventing normal relationships and is associated with criminality
Juvenile Thieves Study procedure
Bowlby 1944, 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing, they were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy, characterised as a lack of affection, guilt and empathy. A control group of non-criminal but emotionally disturbed teenagers were used to compare
Why were the families interviewed in the Juvenile Thieves Study procedure?
their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the teenagers had prolonged early separation from their mothers (maternal deprivation)
Juvenile Thieves Study Findings
14/44 theives (30%) could be described as affectionless psychopaths. Of this 14, 12 (86%) had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers during the critical period. in 30/44, 5 had experienced separations and 2/44 had long separation. In control group 2/44 had long term separation
What are the disadvantages of the maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- Evidence may be poor
- Counter evidence
- Effects of maternal deprivation are reversible
- Failure to distinguish between deprivation and privation
What are the advantages of the maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- Animal studies show effects of maternal deprivation
- The effects of maternal deprivation are shown by animal studies
How may evidence be poor for Maternal deprivation hypothesis?
Bowlby used a range of evidence such as children orphaned during WW2 but this may be flawed evidence as war orphans were traumatised and had poor after care and these factors may cause the psychological difficulties in their lives rather than separation. Also children growing up in poor quality institutions were deprived of all care, not just maternal.
What is the counter evidence for the MDH?
Not all research supports Bowlby’s findings on MDH, Lewis (1954)
Lewis (1954)
Research countered Bowlby’s findings. Study of 500 young people and found no link between early prolonged separation and criminality.
How are the effects of maternal deprivation reversible?
Kulochova (1976) case of twin boys isolated from the age of 18 months to 7 years but they were after looked after by two loving adults and recovered fully and this shows that maternal deprivation doesn’t always lead to long term psychological damage
How do animal studies show effects of maternal deprivation?
Most researchers are critical of the MDH, animal research supports the idea that maternal deprivation has long term effects. For example Levy et al 2003 shows separating baby rats from mothers for a day can effect social development (only)
How is there a failure to distinguish between deprivation and privation?
Michael Rutter (1981) claimed that when Bowlby talked of deprivation he was confusing the concepts together. Rutter drew a distinction between deprivation which meant the loss of an attachment figure after development and privation which is the failure to form attachments.
