Bowlby´s Theory of maternal deprivation.

Question 1

MATERNAL CARE

Answer 1

Bowlby proposed the theory of maternal deprivation , which suggest that infants need, warm, intimate and continues relationships with their mother for normal psychological development.

Question 2

CRITICAL PERIOD

Answer 2

Bowlby suggested that the firts two and a half years of life was a critical period for psychological development.
He believed that deprivation of emotional care due to extended periods of separation from their mother during the critical period , impairs child´s intellectual , social and emotional development.

Question 3

SUBSTITUE EMOTIONAL CARE

Answer 3

Bowlby proposed that potential damage can be avoided by providing suitable substitue emotional care when the child is separated from their mother, this prevents maternal separation leading to maternal deprivation.

Question 4

EFFECTS ON DEVELOPMENT

Answer 4

Maternal deprivation on intellectual development: Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would experience intellectual developmen.

Maternal deprivation on emotional development: Bowlby identify affectionless psychopath as the inability to experience strong emotions towards others.

Question 5

STRENGTH

Answer 5

Research support:
*This is because , in his 44 thieves studies, bowlby found that 86% of the thieves diagnosed as affectionless psychopath had experienced a prolonged separation from their mother compared to 17% of the remaining 30 thieves and just 5% of the control group.

This evidence is imp because it suggest that, care from the mother during childhood can demage emotional development.

However , lewis found a history of prolonges separation from their mother that did not predict difficulty for close relationships.

Question 6

1 LIMITATION

Answer 6

Role of critical period.
*This is because , bowlby believed that psychological damage was inevitable if the child has not formed an attachment within the critical period.

*Koluchova reported the case of Czech twins, who had experience physical and emotional abuse from 18 months to 7 years of age

Question 7

2 LIMITATION

Answer 7

Distinguish between deprivation and privation.
*This is because, rutter drew an important distinction between two types of early childhood attachment. Rutter believe deprivation was the loss of an attachment with the primary attachment figure, wheres privation is the failure to form any attachment

*This is a problem because , the severe long-term damage that bowlby associated with privation is more likely to ocurr as a result of privation.