Bowlbys Theory Of Maternal Deprivation Flashcards
What did this theory suggest
That continuous emotional care from a mother or mother-substitute is necessary for normal emotional and intellectual development.
What did bowlby quote
He quoted that “mother-love in infancy is as important to metal health that vitamins and proteins are for our physical health.
What was the study that showed this
44 thieves study:
Bowlby collected 44 juvenile thieves and compared them to 44 emotionally maladjusted children.
There was a 2 hour examination where the thieves were assessed through emotional attitude and interviewed for signs of affection-less psychopathy.
Families were also interviewed to identify any prolonged separation from mothers
What was the findings from the 44 thieves study
14/44 thieves were affection less psychopaths and 12/14 had suffered prolonged separation (deprivation) from their mother in the first 2 years of their life.
This lead him to create the DADDI effects
What are the DADDI effects
Delinquency
Affectionless psychopathy
Depression
Decreased self esteem
Intellectual retardation
Strength evaluation
P- supporting evidence
E- a psychologist separated baby rats from their mothers from as early as a day old and results showed that they suffered permanent issues in their social development.
E- shows that there are sources of evidence that suggests bowlby is correct
HOWEVER, we cant generalise findings from rats to humans.
P- practical applications
E- a psychologist studied a group of children, who were hospitalised from a very young age (because of TB), however they were visited weekly by their families and as a result, bond disruption was minimised. When compared to a control group, there was no differences between delinquency or forming relationships
E- it suggests that the child can still have a healthy psychological development, as long as the bond disruption is minimised
Limitaion evaluation
P- flaws have been found
E- the 44 thieves study was conducted by bowlby himself, therefore has the potential for researcher bias, due to him thinking deprivation causes negative effects, he will pick the data that support his theory and could also possibly influence answers in the interview, as well as there could be social desirability bias in the interviews which could lead ton the data being incorrect.
E- reduces the validity of the theory due to bowlby creating many flaws
P-bowlby could have mistakes deprivation with privation (the failure to form any attachment)
E- the children used in his 44 thieves study, had very disrupted early lives and therefore my have never been able to form any attachment
E- lack internal validity a bowlby isn’t measuring what he is claiming to measure.
