Influence of attachments Flashcards
Define maternal deprivation.
The emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their primary attachment figure.
What is the difference between separation and deprivation?
Separation simply means the child not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure.This only becomes an issue for development if the child is deprived, e.g. loses an element of care.
Extended separations can lead to deprivation, which by definition causes harm.
How long is the critical period?
The first 30 months.
What happens if a child is absent of a primary caregiver or suitable substitute during the critical period?
If a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable substitute care and so deprived of her emotional care for an extended period of time during this critical period then Bowlby believed psychological damage was inevitable.
What effects on intellectual development does maternal deprivation have?
- They may suffer delayed intellectual development, characterised by an abnormally low IQ.
- E.G. Goldfarb had found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care.
What effects on emotional development does maternal deprivation have?
- Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions for others.
- This prevents a person from developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality.
- Affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of the victims and therefore lack remorse.
What was the procedure of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
- 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing.
- All interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy, characterised by: a lack of guilt about their actions, a lack of affection and lack of empathy for their victims.
- Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether or not the ‘thieves’ had prolonged early separations from their mothers.
- A control group of non-criminal but emotional disturbed young people was set up to see how often maternal separation/deprivation occurred in the children who were not thieves.
What were the findings of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
- 14 out of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths.
- Of this 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first 2 years of their lives.
- In the control group, only 2 out of 44 had experienced prolonged separations.
State 4 criticisms of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory.
The evidence may be poor:
- WW2 (traumatised and poor after care).
- Poor quality orphanages (deprived of multiple aspects of care, not just maternal).
- 44 thieves (researcher bias, Bowlby conducted assessments himself).
Counter evidence:
- Lewis (44 thieves replication with 500 young people).
Critical period is more of a sensitive period:
- Czechoslovakia twins
Deprivation vs privation:
- Rutter
- Privation = failure to form an attachment in the 1st place.
Who conducted a study into Romanian orphans?
Rutter
What was the Romanian orphans study called?
ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) study
What was the procedure of Rutter’s study?
- 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain - testing to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions.
- Physical, cognitive and emotional development was tested at 4,6,11 and 15.
- A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
What were Rutters’ findings?
- When they 1st arrived - half of adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and majority severely malnourished.
- At age 11, the mean IQ of those adopted before 6 months was 107.
- The mean IQ for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years = 86.
- The mean IQ for those adopted after 2 years = 77.
- Children adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment (clinginess, attention seeking, social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults.
Who conducted the Bucharest Early Intervention project?
Zeenah.
What was the procedure of the Bucharest Early Intervention project?
- Assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care.
- They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
- Attachment type was measured using the strange situation and carers were also asked about unusual social behaviour (disinhibited attachment symptoms).
