Classic evidence for the psychodynamic approach : bowlby (1944)

Question 1

What did bowlby propose?

Answer 1

• proposed the maternal deprivation hypothesis
  -focuses on the continous relationship between the infant and the caregiver and interruption of this relationship can lead to instability

bowlby identified two serious consequences of the failure to form an attachment of the relationship with the main caregiver in the sensitive period
- affectionless psychopathy: inability to experience guilt or deep feeling for other people which can lead to delinquency and criminality in later life
- developmental retardation : idea that if children are deprived of a stable relationship with their caregiver they might not develop a normal level of intelligence

Question 2

Participants

Answer 2

• bowlby investigated the relationship between childhood development and juvenile deliquency using a series of case studies
• a sample of 44 children ( 31 boys and 13 girls )
• children were described as thieves because stealing was one of their symptoms
• children were aged between 5 and 17 years old and were put into categories based on the severity of their stealing

a seperate 44 children acted as a control group and were matched as far as possible on age, sex and IQ
- this group was also considered emotionally disturbed but did not steal

Question 3

Partcipants and groups they were placed in

Answer 3

Grade 1 : one theft consisted of 3 children
Grade 2 : a few thefts that consisted of 8 children
Grade 3 : persistent but irregular ovee a long period of time consisted of 10 children
Grade 4: chronic and serious thieving for lengthy period consisted of 23 children

majority were regarded as habitual thieves

Question 4

Procedures

Answer 4

• bowlby conducted interviews, observations and conducted psychological assessments
• a inital examination was given to each child on arrival (psychological assessments)
• mental test was used to assess intelligence by a psychologist
• a social worker interviewed the mothers and recorded details of their childs early psychiatric history ( interviews )
• bowlby interviwed the child and mother ( interviews )
• team then considered school reports and other medical conclusions and discussed conclusions (psychological assessments)
• for a period of six months the children met weekly with the psychiatrist whilst their mother talked over issues with the social worker (observations)

Question 5

Findings

Answer 5

• bowlby recognised that it was necessary to distinguish between different possible character types to determine what previous traumas might have caused children to steal

-children were split into six main personality types
- normal , depressed, circular, hyperthermic, affectionless, schizoid

-children categorised as affectionless appeared to show a pattern in relation to delinquency (14 of the 44 thieves were affectionless)

Question 6

Findings of the affectionless

Answer 6

• these children since infancy had been unresponsive and responded to neither kindness or punishment
• in addition to stealing these children truanted and wandered and lied.
• some went and stole alone but had no emotional ties to any acquaintances they had
• affectionless differed, some were unsociable and others were energetic and active
  e.g kenneth W was full of hard luck stories but was alert
• some of the active children were aggressive e.g kenneth w burnt his sisters leg on purpose, was disobedient, loved making family cry

Question 7

Findings

Answer 7

12 of the 14 affectionless children had experienced frequent separations from their mothers
- e.g derek b spent 9 months in the hospital as an infant without being visited by his parents
-these separations were rare in other categories and of the remaining 30 only 5 had suffered prolonged separation

Question 8

Conclusions

Answer 8

• Bowbly claims that the affectionless thieves have a distinctive early history prolonged separation from their mothers

-Children who steal persistently are an affectionless character which resulted from prolonged separation during childhood

• Bowlby proposed that damage to the emotional development would affect the development of personality leading to a reduced sense of what is right and wrong
• claimed that children would not have become offenders if they had not had experiences that were harmful to healthy development and bowlby supported the view that early experiences are vital later in life

Question 9

Evaluation (methodological issues)

Answer 9

Population issues
- children who are emotionally disturbed in some way cannot be generalised to all children who have a disruption to attachment

Validity of qualitative data
- data is collected from various sources : parents, schools, psychiatrists
- rich detailed data that provide good insights into the childrens characters and lives

Validity issues with nature of data collected
- parents asked to make recollections from their childs early life and recollections may be inaccurate which may lead to invalid data

Validity issues with establishing cause and effect
- there seems to be a link between prolonged separation and emotional problems
- cannot be stated that prolonged separation causes emotional problems that lead to delinquency