Maternal Deprivation Flashcards
Who’s theory was maternal deprivation?
Bowlby’s
What study did bowlby conduct?
44 thieves study
What was Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
He used 88 children ages from 5 to 16 years old who had been referred to child guidance clinic where bowlby worked
44 of the children were thieves and 15 of these were affectionless psychopaths
44 had not committed a crime or anti social behaviour but had emotional difficulties
He interviewed the children about their early life experiences
What did bowlby find from his 44 thieves study?
Thieves and affectionless psychopaths- 86% had prolonged separation
Emotional difficulties but not criminals- 18% had prolonged separations
What does Bowlby’s study on maternal deprivation suggest?
That there’s a link between long term separation from parental care giver as a child and having problems later in life. This illustrates the maternal deprivation hypothesis and the idea that long term disruptions to attachment have long lasting consequences that vary in severity
What did bowlby suggest that the value of maternal care was?
It was assumed that if a child was well fed and kept warm and safe then development would be healthy but bowlby suggested that infants and children need a warm intimate and prolonged relationship with a mother to ensure continuing normal mental health
What are the long term consequences of deprivation?
Emotional maladjustment and mental health problems such as depression
What research can support Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Bifulco et al found that women who had been separated from their mothers either because of maternal death or on a temporary basis for more than a year, later experienced depression or anxiety disorder (25% compared to 15% without separation). This suggests that larger percentage of women suffering from mental illness must be a result of the separations they experienced during childhood. Thus Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis is plausible and we can see the importance of a consistent primary caregiver during childhood
Which research does not support maternal deprivation?
Barrett reviewed various studies on separation and said that some securely attached children may cope well, whereas some avoidant children may not. This suggests that the types of attachment that the child had with their parental care giver will affect how well they cope with the separations. Therefore, we cannot say that all children will respond in the same way to wing separated from their parental caregiver as there are individual differences
How can maternal deprivation be not supported because of the child’s experience of separation / deprivation?
In Bowlby’s 44 thieves research each of the 88 children had different circumstances and suffered different types and lengths of separations
This means that it is difficult to make comparisons between individual cases as each child will have experienced something different. Therefore we cannot say that all children who suffer either separation or deprivation will have the same effects as each child’s experience is unique
How could other factors have contributed to affectionless psychopathy in Bowlby’s theory?
There was a relationship between the children who suffered long term separation from the parental care giver early in life and affectionless psychopathy. This means that we cannot say that the early long term separations caused some of the children to be affectionless psychopaths. Therefore, there could be another factor that resulted in the children being affectionless psychopaths.
What are the practical applications into disruptions of attachment?
In 1952 if children had to go into hospital for anything, only 25% of the hospitals allowed daily visits. This would have meant that some children would have suffered from separation. Robertson and Bowlby’s findings helped change this situation as this does not happen in hospitals now a days. Therefore, the findings of research into separation and deprivation have been used in real life to help children reduce suffering
