Bowlbys Theory Of Maternal Deprivation Flashcards
What is maternal deprivation
The emotional and intellectual consequence of separation between a child and their mother
Why does Bowlby study the impact of maternal deprivation
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
What is the distinction between separation and deprivation
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
Can a child still be deprived even though they are still in the presence of their caregiver (use examples)
Yes, a mother could still be present but she could be depressed and depriving her child of emotional care
What was the critical period that Bowlby found for psychological development
First 2 and half years
In what way did Bowlby believe that psychological damage was inevitable
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
Up to what age did Bowlby feel there was a continuing risk of ?
5 yers old
What types of attachment does maternal deprivation have an effect on
Intellectual and emotional development
What is intellectual development
This is how ones level of IQ develops and how their intellect developed
What did Bowlby believe would happen, intellectually, if a child was maternally deprived for too long
They would have delayed intellectual development and abnormally low iq
How can Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation leading to a delay in intellectual development be supported
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
What is emotional development
The development of ones emotions and feelings towards things
What did Bowlby believe would happen, emotionally, if a child was maternally deprived for too long
They would have a lack of emotional development and be more affectionless
What did Bowlby identify ‘affectionaless psychopathy’ as
The inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards each other
what is the effect on ‘affectionless psychopathy’ on someone
.Prevents them developing fulfilling relationships
.Is associated with criminality
.Can’t appreciate the feelings of victims
.Lacks remorse for their actions
What was Bowlbys research
Thieves study to examine the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
What was the procedure of Bowlbys research
.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
What were the findings of Bowlbys research
.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
What was Bowlbys conclusion from his research
That prolonged early separation/deprivation cause affectionless psychopathy
What is a limitation (with counterpoint) of Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation
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
What is the counterpoint of the limitation of the flawed evidence
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
What is another limitation of Bowlbys research (privation and privation)
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
What is the last limitation of Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation (critical vs sensitive period)
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.
What type of behaviour do those infants who are deprived show
Protest, despair and detachment
