Lesson 10: Bowlby’s theory of Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

Maternal deprivation theory

Answer 1

• Focused on the idea that the continual presence of nurturing from the mother or mother-substitute is essential for the normal psychological development of babies and toddlers.
• Being separated from a mother in early childhood has serious consequences- known as maternal deprivation, also known as Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis.

Question 2

Difference between separation and deprivation

Answer 2

‘Separation’ simply means the child not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure. This only becomes an issue for the development if the child is deprived. Brief separations, particularly when a child is a substitute caregiver, are not significant for development but extended separations can lead to deprivation which causes harm to the child.

Question 3

Bowlby’s critical period

Answer 3

He saw the first 30 months as a critical period for psychological development- if they were deprived for longer than this then psychological damage was not only inevitable but also lasting.

Question 4

Consequence of maternal deprivation- intellectual development

Answer 4

Intellectual development- if deprived for too long during critical period, they would suffer delayed intellectual development through a very low IQ. Goldfarb (1947) found children who had remained in institutions such as orphanages from a young age had much lower IQs than their counterparts who had been fostered.

Question 5

Consequence of maternal deprivation- emotional development

Answer 5

Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they could become ‘affection-less psychopaths’. This concept of ‘affection-less psychopathy’ is the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others. This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality.

Question 6

Evidence to support the maternal deprivation hypothesis- the Juvenile Thieves study- procedure

Answer 6

Procedure- 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. All ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy- characterised as lack of affection, guilt and empathy. Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the teens had prolonged early separations from their mothers (i.e. suffered maternal deprivation).

Question 7

Conclusion of juvenile thieves study

Answer 7

Conclusion- 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as ‘affectionless psychopaths’. Of this 14, 12 had experienced maternal deprivation. In contrast, the remaining thieves, (30 out of 44) only 5 had experienced separations. In the control group, only 2 out of 44 had experienced long separations from their mother.

Question 8

Maternal deprivation hypothesis evaluation- evidence may be poor

Answer 8

• Bowlby used a range of evidence to back his MDH such as orphans during WW2, children growing up in poor quality orphanages and his own 44 thieves study. However, this evidence can be seen as flawed since war-orphans were traumatised and often had poor care. Similarly, children from institutions were generally deprived of all care.
• Bowlby carried out the thieves study interviews himself so may have showed bias in what he was aiming to find.

Question 9

MDH evaluation- counter evidence

Answer 9

Lewis (1954) partially replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people. She found that early prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships. This questions MDH because it suggests other factors may affect the outcome.

Question 10

MDH evaluation- effects are reversible

Answer 10

Bowlby argued that if maternal derpivation was experienced during the critical period then the effects would be irreversible.
However, Kulochova (1976) reported the case of twin boys who were isolated from the age of 18 months to 7 years (their stepmother locked them in a cupboard during this period).
Subsequently they were looked after by two loving adults and appeared to recover fully - this study is an example of research that shows that maternal deprivation during the critical period does not always lead to long term or permanent psychological damage.

Question 11

MDH evaluation- animal studies showed effects of maternal deprivation

Answer 11

Animal studies show effects of maternal deprivation - Although most reserachers are very critical of the MDH, animal research does seem to support the idea that maternal deprivation can have long-term effects. For example, Levy et al (2003) showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development but not any other aspects of their development. This study shows that there is a grain of truth in the MDH but not as severe as Bowlby claimed.

Question 12

MDH evaluation- failure to distinguish between deprivation and privation

Answer 12

Michael Rutter (1981) claimed that when Bowlby talked of deprivation - he was actually confusing two concepts together. Rutter drew a distinction between ‘deprivation’ - which meant the loss of an attachment figure after the attachment had developed and ‘privation’ which is the failure to form an attachment in the first place.
Rutter claimed that the severe long term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is actually more likely to be the result of privation.