Maternal deprivation Flashcards
Briefly explain Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation.
- food + physical care not enough; emotional care needed to ensure gd mental health
- ‘mother love in infancy as important for mental health as vitamins and protein are for physical health’
- when a child and caregiver are separated repeatedly or for prolonged periods of time, the attachment becomes disrupted by not being physically together (maternal deprivation)
- this has long term consequences on emotional and social development like affectionless psychopathy and delinquency
- separation will only have this affect if it takes place in the critical period.
Describe the aim and procedure of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study.
Investigate long term effects of early separation
88 children aged 5-16 referred to a clinic for behavioural problems. 44 were thieves. 14 of those were affectionless psychopaths (no sense of guilt and shame and no social conscience). The remaining 44 were emotionally disturbed but had committed no anti social acts. Interviews were done.
Describe the findings and conclusions of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study.
86% of thieves who were affectionless psychopaths had experienced early prolonged separation from mothers compared to 17% of other thieves. Only 4% of those who weren’t thieves had experienced separations
Early separations from mothers are associated with later social and emotional development problems.
Give a strength of the 44 thieves study.
Provides evidence for maternal deprivation and emotional and social problems later on. It shows that being deprived has long term consequences as suggested.
Give 2 criticisms of the 44 thieves study and maternal deprivation.
Challenging evidence - children who were under 4 when hospitalised due to TB. in clinic there were strict regimes, very little emotional care and only weekly visits from parents. No differences were found in delinquency and emotional and social problems between them and a control group.
Alternative explanation - Rutter suggested the negative affects of separation depend on the reasons for being parted. He found if it was because of family conflict behavioural problems were more likely. Challenges the theory - says it’s bc of difficult family life and not maternal deprivation
Give a practical application of the maternal deprivation theory.
Before the 50s parents ere discourages from seeing children in hospitals as it was thought to delay medical recovery but Bowlby’s work led to policy changed in the care of children in hospitals, encouraging parents to stay overnight. This prevents emotional deprivation and promotes quicker recovery due to less anxiety.
Briefly describe the effects of institutionalisation.
- Rutter: better to study privation (lack of attachment) than deprivation (loss of)
- institutional care means being bought up in a children’s home or orphanage rather than a family
- institutions in past don’t offer emotional care so attachments unlikely
- some psychologists suggest not being able to form an attachment in first 2-3 years of life leads to being unable to form any close relationships in rest of their life
- the effects of institutional care = institutionalisation
- events in Romania allowed it to be studied because the Romanian government forced many women to have children to increase the population, leading to many families having children they couldn’t care for.
Describe the aim and procedure of Rutters research into institutionalisation.
Investigate the effects on physical cognitive and social development on children
Natural experiment, 165 Romanian children who spent early lives in orphanages, adopted by British families. Some children spent longer in there than others. Their physical, social and cognitive development was assessed at ages 4,6,11 and 15. They were compared to a British control group adopted around the same time.
Describe the findings and conclusions of Rutters study into institutionalisation.
- at the time Romanian orphans development was behind that of the UK group; smaller, weighing less and cognitive impairment.
- almost all of Romanian children adopted before 6 months caught up with British physical and cognitive development
- after 6 months they showed disinhibited attachments (attention seeking, lack of fear of strangers, inappropriate physical contact, lack of checking back to parent in stressful situations), and had problems w peers
Study suggests institutionalisation has short term negative effects which may persist long term effects, in particular those who can’t form a substitute attachment. Development may be normal if a substitute attachment forms, especially before 6 months.
Briefly describe Zeanahs study.
Romanian children ages 12-31 months who spent 90% of their lives In an institution compared to a control group of romanian children never in an institution.
Control : 74% S institution: 19%
Control : 20% disinhibited attachment, 44% of institutionalised
65% institutionalised insecure disorganised.
What were the effects of institutionalisation as described by findings?
Disinhibited attachment
Problems w peers
Physical underdevelopment
Cognitive impairment
For one strength of the effects of institutionalisation
Findings eg Rutter have led to adoption policies and practices. Eg past mothers encouraged to feed their babies for some time before giving them up but today most babies adopted in first week of birth.
Give 3 criticisms of effects of institutionalisation.
Methodological issues eg confounding variables. Effects of emotional deprivation experienced in institutions due to lack of emotional care was the focus, but they were also subject to poor physical conditions and lack of cognitive stimulation
Unrepresentative of target population. Not all institutionalised children are adopted. Adopted orphans might have been chosen bc they’re better at dealing w effects. Effects might not be same for every child in institutional care.
Longitudinal study - attrition. Sample reduced over time as some withdrew. Possible that those who withdrew struggled to from attachments. Leads to a biased sample and not representative.
