Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
define maternal deprivaton
the emotional and intellectual consequence of separation between a child and his mother
What did Bowlby’s theory propose?
continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development
What are the two aspects of the MD theory?
continuity hypothesis and critical period
Continuity hypothesis
- prolonged separation from mother limits the development of an effective template for adult relationships (IWM)
- development fails = childhood/adult relationships have an effect on parenting skills
critical period
- prolonged separation from other during a child’s critical period deprives the child of continuous care
- after 30 months - attachment is broken
- emotional and intellectual damage is permanent
what are the 4 effects of maternal deprivation
- deprivation dwarfism
- bed wetting
- social maladjustment
- analytic depression
what are three consequences of maternal deprivation
delinquency - norms aren’t established
low IQ - delayed intellectual development
affectionless psychopathy - delayed emotional development
Key study - Bowlby’s study of 44 juvenile thieves aim
to investigate the relationship between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy
Key study - Bowlby’s study of 44 juvenile thieves procedure
- opportunity sample of 88 children from bowlby’s clinic
- two g - 44 J children vs 44 control group
- the thieves were interviewed to asses social conscience and their family history was examined for prolonged separation
- control group were not interviewed - case history examined
Key study - Bowlby’s study of 44 juvenile thieves findings /conclusion
- 14/44 thieves had affectionless psychopathy
- 12 out of 14 experienced prolonged separation before 5
- 5 of the non affectionless psychopaths had prolonged separation
- 2 of the control group had experienced prolonged separation
Prolonged separation = lack of emotional/intellectual development and affectionless psychopathy
