Bowlby's theory of Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

What is maternal deprivation?

Answer 1

• The emotional & intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother/ mother-substitute
• Bowlby said that being separated from a mother in early childhood has serious consequences

Question 2

What is the difference between separation & deprivation?

Answer 2

• separation is when the child isn’t in the presence of their primary attachment figure
• deprivation is the removal of the mother’s care which by definition causes harm

Question 3

What is the critical period for children according to Bowlby?

Answer 3

• the first 30 months of life
• if child is separated from their mother without suitable substitute care for a long time during the critical period then psychological damage is inevitable according to Bowlby

Question 4

What are the 2 effects on development from maternal deprivation?

Answer 4

• intellectual development
• emotional development

Question 5

What is the effect on intellectual development from maternal deprivation?

Answer 5

• Bowlby believed that if a child experienced maternal deprivation for a long time during the critical period they would suffer from delayed intellectual development
• this would result in abnormally low IQ

Question 6

What is the effect on emotional development from maternal deprivation?

Answer 6

• Bowlby believed that the delay in emotional development leads to affectionless psychopathy
• this means the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards others
• affectionless psychopaths lack remorse for their actions & don’t appreciate feelings of victims

Question 7

What was the aim & procedure for Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?

Answer 7

• the study examined the link between maternal deprivation & affectionless psychopathy
• study consisted of 44 thieves who were interviewed by Bowlby for signs of affectionless psychopathy
• their families were also interviewed to establish if the criminals had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers
• a control group of non-criminals who were emotionally disturbed was set up for comparison of the effect of maternal deprivation

Question 8

What were the findings of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?

Answer 8

• 14/44 thieves were described as affectionless psychopaths
• 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers from 2 years old
• from the control group 2/44 had experienced long separations
• it was concluded that prolonged early separation caused affectionless psychopathy

Question 9

Evaluation: The evidence may be poor

Answer 9

• Bowlby’s sources of evidence for maternal deprivation included studies of orphans from WW2 who grew up in poor quality orphanages
• war-orphans were traumatised & often had poor care which may cause later developmental difficulties rather than separation
• also Bowlby carried out the assessments for affectionless psychopathy for the 44 thieves study himself
• this is a limitation because he knew what he hoped to find from the interviews so may have only focused on that creating bias to the study

Question 10

Evaluation: Counter-evidence

Answer 10

• not all research supports Bowlby’s findings
• e.g. Lewis replicated the 44 thieves study with 500 young people
• in her sample early prolonged separation from the mother didn’t predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships
• this is a limitation for the theory of maternal deprivation as it suggests that there are other factors that affect the consequences of early maternal deprivation

Question 11

Evaluation: The critical period is more of a sensitive period

Answer 11

• Bowlby believed that prolonged separation inevitably caused damaged if it took place within the critical period
• later research shows that the damage is not inevitable
  e.g. Koluchova reported a case of twin boys from Czechoslovakia who were isolated from 18 months until they were 7 (locked in a cupboard by their step-mother)
• they were looked after by 2 loving adults and appeared to recover fully
• this shows that the period identified by Bowlby as the critical period may just be a ‘sensitive’ one

Question 12

Evaluation: Animal studies show effects of maternal deprivation

Answer 12

• although most psychologists are critical of the theory of maternal deprivation some research supports the idea that maternal deprivation can have long-term effects
• e.g. Levy et al. showed that separating baby rats from their mother for even a day had a permanent effect on their social development
• this means that Bowlby’s theory has some validity however it may not reflect effects of human maternal deprivation as much