Disruption of Attachment Flashcards
Learn Separation, deprivation and privation and attachment disorders as a result of privation
Define Separation
To be physically apart from ones caregiver
Define Deprivation
The loss of emotional care which results in the breaking of emotional bonds
Define Privation
Complete lack of emotional care - especially during the first few years of life
Who devised the PDD model and when?
Robertson and Bowlby in 1952
What does PDD stand for?
Protest, Despair, Detachment
What did Robertson and Bowlby devise in 1952?
The PDD model
What does the PDD model aim to explain?
The effects of short term attachment
Describe the protest stage of the PDD model
Immediate reaction to separation – it involves crying, screaming, kicking, and generally struggling to escape or clinging to the mother to stop her from leaving
Describe the Despair stage of the PDD Model
Calmer behaviour replaces initial struggle. The child may seem apathetic but feelings of anger and fear are locked up
- The child may not react to other people’s offers of comfort, yet may prefer to comfort themselves, e.g. thumb-sucking
Describe the Detachment stage of the PDD Model
If separation continues for longer periods, the child may begin to sponsor people again, but everyone is treated alike with no preference to one person. When the mother returns, she may be ‘rejected’ as she ‘rejected’ the child.
Separation is likely to be more stressful for….(6)
- Boys
- Infants aged 7/8 months, as attachments are forming, peaking at 12-18months
- Infants who have had behavioural problems prior to the separation
- Children with an overly close relationship to the primary caregiver
- Children who have never been separated from caregiver before
- Situations where there is an absence of substitute emotional care
What is Separation Anxiety?
A longer term effect of separation - the fear that separation will occur again in the future
What 3 ways is separation anxiety often expressed? (IDC)
- Increased aggressive behaviour and greater demands on parent
- Detachment - child becomes self-sufficient and does not rely on parents emotionally (e.g. refuses cuddles)
- Clinging behaviour - the child wont let the parent out of it’s sight
Who conducted the case study into ‘John’ and over what 6 year period?
Robertson and Robertson (1967-1973)
Robertson and Robertson observed various children under the age of three during periods of short separation from their parents. What was John’s case in particular?
- John spent 9 days in a residential nursery while his mother was in hospital
- It was the first time he had been separated from his mother
- He had previously had a quiet and harmonious relationship with his mother
- He showed signs of extreme distress at the separation
- When his mother arrived to take him home, he screamed and threw himself around, rejecting her. When his father came he ran straight into his arms
- John continued to show outbursts of anger towards his mother for months afterwards
Who came up with the Maternal Deprivation hypothesis and when?
Bowlby, in 1953
What did Bowlby devise in 1953?
His Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
Define Maternal Deprivation (Bowlby 1953)
DEPRIVATION = loss of emotional bond
- (This is a development of Bowlby’s work, not explanation of attachment link his evolutionary theory – do not get confused)
Quote Bowlby from 1953
‘Prolonged deprivation of a young child of maternal care may have grave and far-reaching effects on his character…in similar form…to deprivation of vitamins in infancy.’
Who conducted the 44 thieves study and when?
Bowlby - 1994
What experiment did Bowlby conduct in 1994?
His 44 thieves study
How many pps took part in the 44 thieves study?
88 in total - 44 in the control group (had emotional problems but had not committed any crimes)
What was the procedure of the 44 thieves study?
They asked both groups (control and thieves) questions about their childhood
How many of each group (control and thieves) were found to have been separated from their mothers for longer than 6 months under the age of 5?
Control - 1/2
Thieves - Over half
What percentage of the thieves (but non of the controls) would Bowlby have diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths?
32%
What had 86% of the affectionless psychopaths experienced?
early separation
What percentage of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced early separation?
86%
What could Bowlby conclude from his 44 thieves study?
That separation during the formation of attachments causes poor emotional development
Evaluation for Bowlby’s 44 Thieves Study
\:-( Self-report – social Desirability \:-( Retrospective data collection \:-( Correlational not Causational \:-( Ethnocentric \:-( Small sample – potentially lacking generalizability
State the 4 stages of the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis (DILD)
Disruption to attachment process –> Inability to form relationships with others –> Lack of moral constraints on behaviour –> Delinquent or criminal behaviour
Bowlby went retrospectively attempt to prove his theory
As well as Bowlby’s 444 thieves study, there are 2 more examples of research to show the effects of deprivation, but who by and when?
Spitz (1949)
Spitz and Wolf (1950)
What types of upbringings did Spitz (1949) compare?
Prison vs orphanages
What is anaclitic depression?
Apathy, withdrawal, helplessness, low appetite
Describe Spitz’s 1949 research
- Children in orphanages
o Signs of ‘anaclitic depressions’
Apathy, withdrawal, helplessness, low appetite - Compared to survival rates of children raised in prison
o Better in prison-raised children than from orphanages
(Correlational conclusion)
Describe Spitz and Wolfe’s 1946 study
- 100 psychologically normal children in long-term hospital care
- Most showed signs of depression
- Recovered quickly if period of hospitalisation is less than three months
Evaluate Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis - 2 negative one mutually positive and negative
No specific causation – Samples are used for children who are already deprived in many ways – not necessarily maternal deprivation
Not all research is supportive – Bowlby et al (1956) = contradictory – no difference in frequently hospitalised children (TB sufferers)
Potential refinements - Michael Rutter (1981) identified some further problems with the maternal deprivation hypothesis – He supported it in general, but felt refinements were needed. He claimed that:
- Bowlby confused ‘cause and effect’ and ‘association’ – his results are correlational not causational
- Bowlby did not distinguish between different kinds of deprivation for example, could have been privation (lack of ever having any attachments at all)
- Theory focuses on benefits of attachments as opposed to consequences of deprivation
‘John’ is a case study into separation, what are the 2 case studies into Privation?
‘Czech Twins’, Andrei and Vanya
Genie
What is Privation? (5 Bullet point, detail) MCAFE
More extreme disruption of attachment
Complete lack of emotional care
Attachment is not formed at all
Failure or inability to form an attachment with anyone
Evidence of its effects comes from case studies and longitudinal studies to eliminate ethical issues
Who conducted the Case Study into Genie and when?
Curtis 1977
What was Genie’s story?
- Genie was raised in extreme isolation, lacking emotional care, until she was discovered aged 13
- Chained to a child’s potty and punished for making noise
- On discovery her appearance was that of a 6 year old – she could not walk properly or talk
- Described as ‘uncivilised, primitive and hardly human.’
- Failed to significantly recover from the effects of privation
Who conducted the Case Study into the ‘Czech Twins’ Andrei and Vanya?
Koluchová (1976)
What was the story of the Czech Twins?
- Their mother died in childbirth and they went to a children’s home for their first 11 months
- Later they spent 6 months with their aunt, then lived with their father and stepmother
- Their father was of low intelligence and their step mother was cruel
- Raised in isolation for about 5 years; were never allowed out of the house and were often kept in either an unheated closet or cellar
- When discovered, at the age of 7, they could hardly walk, were very fearful and their spontaneous speech was very poor
- However, they recovered from the effects of privation
Why did Genie not recover when the twins did?
Age: 13 vs 7
Care: constant neglect vs institutional care
The Czech Twins had each other – some form of
bond
KEY STUDY into the effects of Privation was done by who and when?
Hodges and Tizard (1989)
Just learn this Key Study by Hodges and Tizard in 1989
• Study of Institutional children
• 65 British children who had been placed in an institution when they were less than four months old (before they had formed attachments)
• In the institution, explicit policy was set against caregivers, forming attachments with the children and there was a high turnover of staff
• An early report stated 70% of children were unable to care about others, suggesting emotional privation
• By the age of 4, 24 = adopted
15 = returned to original homes
rest = remained in institutional
• Interviewing took place at the ages of 8 and 16 of those who had been adopted or returned home
• Generally, adopted children = close attachments to parents + good relationships at home
- The children who went home didn’t have as positive an experience
• Although home life differed, outside home behaviour was similar. Both groups were more likely to seek adult attention and approval more than a control group, and were less successful in their relationships with peers
• Study suggests privation at an early age affects future relationships, even when children receive subsequent emotional care
• However, not all children were followed throughout the whole study. Also, individual differences were present within the groups, suggesting additional factors were involved
How many children were studied in the Hodges and Tizard key study into privation of 1989?
65
What percentage of children were published to be incapable of caring about others in an earlier report, prior to the study of 1989?
70%
How many children returned home in the Hodges and Tizard study of 1989
15
How many children were adopted in the Hodges and Tizard study of 1989
24
Other supportive research into the effects of Privation = Rutter 2003 - Romanian Orphans
> 111 Romanian orphans adopted in the UK, assessing them at ages 4, 6 and 11
When they arrived in the UK, the children were physically undersized, but by the age of 4 they had caught up with age-related milestones
The study found that the later the children were adopted, the slower the progress
- Those adopted before 6 months = ‘normal
emotional development’
- After 6 months = showed attention seeking
behaviour and had problems with peer relationships
This suggests that the longer children experience emotional deprivation, the longer it will take them to recover. However, if children are given the opportunity to form attachments, a degree of recovery is possible.
Other supportive research into the effects of Privation =
Quinton et al (1984) - Ex-institutional women
• Group of 50 women who had been raised in institutions and compared them with a control group
• The ex-institutional women had extreme difficulties when they become parents compared with the control group. For example, their own children were frequently put in care
• Less sensitive, supportive and warm towards their children (than control). This could have been due to the absence of a parental role model, which made them less able to cope as mothers
• Found that those who had favourable experiences in adulthood (such as support of a spouse) functioned as well as the control group
- This suggests that continuing poor experiences are associated with poor recovery, but that recovery is possible
What are some children who experience Privation diagnosed with?
Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)
What is RAD?
A recognised Psychiatric condition, most commonly caused by privation
What are the characteristics of RAD?
- history of significant neglect or frequent change in caregivers
- No preferred attachment figure
- Problems interacting with others
- Unable to relate to others or form relationships
What are the two types of RAD?
> Inhibited: withdrawn, introverted and unable to cope socially
Disinhibited: Attention seeking and overly friendly and familiar with others
