Bowlbys Theory Of Maternal Deprivation Flashcards
What is maternal deprivation
The emotional and intellectual consequences between a child and their mother (or sub mother) bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological; development
And prolonged separation can lead to serious damage to their emotional and intellectual development
What is separation
The child not being in the presence of the parental figure
What is deprivation
Extended separations resulting is a loss of care, which causes harm
What is the critical period
The first 30 months of life, where bobbly believed that separation from a mother in this period, would have severe consequences for development
What was bowlbys 44 thieves study aim
Aimed to examine the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
What was the 44 thieves procedure
He studied 44 criminal teenagers who were accused of stealing, they were then interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
Their families were also interveiwed in order to establish whether the thieves has prolonged early separation from their mothers
What is affectionless psychopathy
Characterised as a lack of guilt about their actions, lack of empathy for their victims and a lack of affection
What was the control group
A control group of non criminals but emotionallly disturbed individuals was set up to see how often maternal deprivation occurred in children who were not thieves
What were the results of the 44 thieves study
14/44 were described as affectionless psychopaths
12/14 of those had experienced separation from their mother in the first 2 years of their life
2/44 of the control group experienced long term separations
What did bowlby therefore conclude
That maternal deprivation would have profound negative effects on a child and would have long lasting emotional and social implications
Called the maternal deprivation hypothesis
Evaluation: critical period is more of a sensitive period
Later research showed that damage was not inevitable and some cases of maternal deprivation have good outcomes if they have social interaction and good after care
This was shown by koluchova who reported the case of 2 twin boys from Czechoslovakia, who were isolated from the ages of 18 months to 7 years, their step mum kept them locked in a cupboard and were later looked after by loving parents and they appeared to recover fully
Showing treat the critical period is more of a sensitive period
Evaluation: subjective bias
Bowlby himself carried out the assessments of affectionless psychopathy and family interviews, knowing what he wanted and therefore some argue that he selectively picked evidence in his favour to support his claim, decreasing the validity of the study
Evaluation: animal studies that support bowbys claim
Levy et al 2003 separated baby rats from their mothers for as little as a day, however even 1 day of separation had a permanent effect on their social development
What are the 3 predictable reactions from children to separation
Protest
Despair
Detachment
Explain protest
The immediate reaction to separation
Screaming, crying, kicking or clinging to the caregiver
Cries for attention and expressions of anger
Outward and direct expression of the emotional consequences of separation
Explain despair
Struggling and protest is eventually replaced by calmer behaviour
Prefer to comfort themselves by thumb sucking or playing with a toy
The child thinks that the situation will never return back to normal
Explain detachment
If separation continues the child will begin to respond to ppl again, but only superficially and treats everyone equally
When reunited with caregiver the child will reject them and will need to take time to relearn their attachment again
