Bowlby’s Theory Of Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

Separation vs deprivation

Answer 1

• separation means that child not being in the presence of the P.A figure… only becomes a problem if the child becomes deprived of emotional care.
• brief separations,child is with a substitute C.G, are not significant for dev but extended separations can lead to deprivation - causes harm

Question 2

The critical period

Answer 2

• first 2 1/2 years of life as critical period for psychological development
• if child is separated from mother + no substitute C.G so deprived of emotional care in the critical period… B said that psychological damage was inevitable
• continued risk up to the age of 5

Question 3

Effects on development - intellectual + emotional

Answer 3

Intellectual -
. Delayed intellectual development, abnormally low IQ
E.g. Goldfarb; found lower IQ in children who remained in institutions

Emotional -
. B identified affectionless psychopathy - inability to experience guilt or strong emotions
… prevents them from developing normal relationships

Question 4

Bowlby’s research - 44 thieves, link between affection-less psychopathy and maternal deprivation

Answer 4

Procedure:
- 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing, all thieves interviewed for signs of A.P
- families were interviewed to establish whether the ‘thieves’ had prolonged separations from their mothers
- sample compared to a control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally disturbed young people

Findings:
- 14 of the 44 had A.P + 12 of these had prolonged separations from their mother in the critical period
- only 5 of remaining 30 had experienced separations
- 2 pts in the control group of 44 experienced long separations
B concluded - prolonged separation / deprivation caused A.P

Question 5

Evaluate the theory of maternal deprivation - limitation

Answer 5

LIMITATION:
Poor evidence; 44 thieves is flawed, B carried out the interviews and assessments for A.P
- open to bias, knew in advance which teenagers were expected to show A.P
- Goldfarbs; problems with confounding variables, children had experienced trauma and institutional care
COUNTERPOINT:
Research to support; Levy et al - showed separating baby rats from mothers for a day had permanent effect on social dev

LIMITATION:
Confusion between different types of early experience;
Rutter; distinction between deprivation - (strictly the loss of the P.A figure) and privation - (failure to form any A in the first place)
- pointed that the severe long term damage of deprivation B said is more likely due to privation
B overstated the effects of deprivation

Question 6

Limitation

Answer 6

LIMITATION:
Idea of the critical period; evidence to suggest that good quality aftercare can prevent the damage B states
- Koluchova et al; Czech twins; severe physical + emotional abuse until they were 7 yrs
… received excellent care and by their teens they had recovered fully
- means that lasting harm is nit inevitable even in the cases of severe privation
… critical period better seen as ‘sensitive period’.