Bowlbys Theory Of Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

What is maternal deprivation

Answer 1

The emotional and intellectual consequence of separation between a child and their mother

Question 2

Why does Bowlby study the impact of maternal deprivation

Answer 2

Because he believes that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development and so he wants to study what a lack of this will do to te babies development

Question 3

What is the distinction between separation and deprivation

Answer 3

Separation is when the child is simply away from the presence of their primary caregiver.

Deprivation is when the child is lacking necessary emotional care from their primary caregiver

Question 4

Can a child still be deprived even though they are still in the presence of their caregiver (use examples)

Answer 4

Yes, a mother could still be present but she could be depressed and depriving her child of emotional care

Question 5

What was the critical period that Bowlby found for psychological development

Answer 5

First 2 and half years

Question 6

In what way did Bowlby believe that psychological damage was inevitable

Answer 6

If the child was separated from their mother in the absence o suitable care and so deprived of her emotional care for an extended duration during this critical period of time

Question 7

Up to what age did Bowlby feel there was a continuing risk of ?

Answer 7

5 yers old

Question 8

What types of attachment does maternal deprivation have an effect on

Answer 8

Intellectual and emotional development

Question 9

What is intellectual development

Answer 9

This is how ones level of IQ develops and how their intellect developed

Question 10

What did Bowlby believe would happen, intellectually, if a child was maternally deprived for too long

Answer 10

They would have delayed intellectual development and abnormally low iq

Question 11

How can Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation leading to a delay in intellectual development be supported

Answer 11

Studies of adoption. One study found that there was lower iq in children who had remained in orphanages compared to those who were in fostered care

Question 12

What is emotional development

Answer 12

The development of ones emotions and feelings towards things

Question 13

What did Bowlby believe would happen, emotionally, if a child was maternally deprived for too long

Answer 13

They would have a lack of emotional development and be more affectionless

Question 14

What did Bowlby identify ‘affectionaless psychopathy’ as

Answer 14

The inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards each other

Question 15

what is the effect on ‘affectionless psychopathy’ on someone

Answer 15

.Prevents them developing fulfilling relationships
.Is associated with criminality
.Can’t appreciate the feelings of victims
.Lacks remorse for their actions

Question 16

What was Bowlbys research

Answer 16

Thieves study to examine the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation

Question 17

What was the procedure of Bowlbys research

Answer 17

.44 teenage thieves
.Interviewed for signs of affectional less psychopathy
.Families also interview to see if thieves has prolonged early separations from mothers
.Sample was compared to a control group of 44 non criminal but emotionally disturbed teens

Question 18

What were the findings of Bowlbys research

Answer 18

.14 out of 44 could be described as affectionless psychopaths
.12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in first 2 years
.only 5 out of 30 had experienced separations
.only 2 out of 44 from control group had experienced long separations

Question 19

What was Bowlbys conclusion from his research

Answer 19

That prolonged early separation/deprivation cause affectionless psychopathy

Question 20

What is a limitation (with counterpoint) of Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 20

Flawed evidence- Bowlby himself carried out both researches with the idea of affectionless psychopathy, open to bias, knew who was expected to show what, influenced by other studies. The other study had issues of confounding variables because the children experienced early trauma

Question 21

What is the counterpoint of the limitation of the flawed evidence

Answer 21

There is a new line of research that can support his idea of maternal deprivation can have long term effects. Levy showed that separations baby rats from their mother for even a a day had a permanent effect of their social development

Question 22

What is another limitation of Bowlbys research (privation and privation)

Answer 22

His confusion between different types of early experience - Ritter drew a distal notion between the 2 types of early negative experiences , deprivation is strictly the loss of the primary attachment after attachment has developed, privation is the failure to form an attachment in the first place. Router said that Bowlby is more talking bout privation not deprivation. Many of those in Bowlbys study had distrupted lives so they weren’t able to form the attachment in the first place. Overestimated seriousness of the effect of attachment

Question 23

What is the last limitation of Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation (critical vs sensitive period)

Answer 23

Bowlby believe that damage was inevitable if the child hadn’t formed an attachment in the first 2 nd a half years, a critical period. However there was a study that showed that they were abused severely from 18moths to 7 years but even thought they were emotionally damaged, they received excellent care and fully recovered. This means that lasting harm isn’t inevitable even in severe privation cases and so instead of a critical prod, a sensitive period be more appropriate.

Question 24

What type of behaviour do those infants who are deprived show

Answer 24

Protest, despair and detachment