Maternal deprivation Flashcards
When does deprivation occur
when an attachment bond is formed between an infant and caregiver but is broken later on. If attachment is broken within critical period (0-2.5yrs), can lead to irreversible damage to child + affectionless psychopathy (inability to experience guilt or care about others). There is a continued risk up until 5 –> separation from caregiver will not result in lasting emotional care provided there is subsequent emotional care
maternal deprivation on intellectual development
Maternal deprivation can also affect child’s intellectual development:
GOLFARB: found lower IQ in children who remained in institutions than those who were fostered + ∴ had a higher standard of emotional care
Research related to maternal deprivation
BOWLBY 44 THEIVES
AIM: to see if early separation from the 1o caregiver (deprivation) was associated w/ behavioural disorders, i.e, affectionless psychopathy.
METHOD: interviewed 44 juvenile thieves + their families to create a record of early life experiences, then compared to non-criminal but emotionally damaged teens
FOUND: 14/44 thieves = affectionless psychopaths, 12 of which had prolonged emotional deprivation. 17% of the ‘other thieves’ experienced maternal separation.
TS a link between early separations + later social maladjustment. MDH appears to lead to affectionless psychopathy + antisocial behaviour.
44 season evaluation
- HARLOW: deprived monkey of attachment figure + monkey showed social impairment
- Distinction not clear between deprivation + privation. RUTTER: suggests privation – not having had the opportunity to form an attachment at all – leads to more damaging consequences for child than experiencing broken attachment in early years. RUTTER suggested BOWLBY was confusing the 2 concepts + using the term interchangeably + the long-term damage B associated w/ deprivation was probably due to privation.
- Correlational, only relationship between deprivation + later behavioural issues, other factors? e.g, BARNETT: securely attached kids are more resistant to neg effects of maternal deprivation compared to insecurely attached children. TS not maternal deprivation alone that affects later
behaviour. ∴ can’t establish cause + effect to conclude that separation leads to behavioural issues and affectionless psychopathy. - FURSTENBERG + KIERNAN: kids experiencing divorce score lower than kids in 1st marriage on social development, emotional well being + academic performance. TS MDH as highlights neg effects of deprivation (as attachment to parent may be broken) -prac app. BUT ind. diffs
- PRAC APPS: hospital visits + key workers in day-care + strategies to help kids cope w/ divorce
Maternal deprivation IDA
FREE WILL vs DETERMINISM
IDA
MDH suggests children who are deprived of an attachment, usually within a critical period of development, will suffer neg long-term consequences. TS infant’s life chances are determined by their early attachment experiences.
NATURE vs NURTURE
critical period demonstrates the importance of a biological mechanism; however, this mechanism is shaped by an infant’s interactions, or lack of interactions, w/ their caregivers. (nature via nurture)
Related research to effects of institutionalisation
RUTTER ERA (English + Romanian Adoptee) STUDY 2011 AIM: examine long-term effects of institutionalisation using longitudinal study METHOD: followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain. 111 adopted before 2 y/o, 54 adopted by 4. Compared to control group (52 British kids), adopted before 6 months. Social, cognitive + physical development examined at age 4, 6, 11 + 15 + interviewed adoptive parents + teachers. FOUND: At the point of adoption, Romanian orphans showed delayed development on all tested elements →physically smaller, weighed less on average + many classified as mentally retarded. BUT, almost all Romanian orphans who were adopted before 6 months caught up on these measures of development when compared to the British control group. Romanian children adopted after 6 months continued to show significant deficits in terms of social, cognitive and physical development + more likely to experience difficulties w/ making / maintaining peer relationships + were often categorised w/ disinhibited attachment. TS Institutionalisation can have severe long-term effects on development, especially if children are not provided with adequate emotional caregiving.
RUTTER EVAL
- LONGITUDINAL→ assesses both long term + short-term effects, results of study appear to be a valid representation of the effects of being placed in institutional care + portrays the results of receiving quality follow-on emotional caregiving in a timely manner. but other factors? deprivation = one factor of development. Orphans experienced very little / no mental stimulation + often malnourished. TS multiple risk factors involved in ascertaining the effects of institutional care. ∴ hard to interpret results of studies as the sole effect of deprivation as there are many different influences that affected these children.
- METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES: children not randomly assigned to conditions as RUTTER did not interfere w/ the adoption process. ∴ children adopted early may have been more sociable than the other kids → Confounding variable. BUT ZEANAH: controlled such variables using random allocation to fostering / institutionalised condition + found institutional condition had neg effect. TS institutional care had definite damaging effect on kids
- IDA: Romanian Orphan Studies suggest an infant’s life chances are determined by their early experiences + can lead to: physical underdevelopment, intellectual under functioning, disinhibited attachment + poor parenting. However, not all infants experience the same neg effects, which further highlights the importance of an idiographic approach within institutionalisation research
- KREPPNER: found quasi-autistic symptoms in Romanian orphans, impaired language + social skills; disinhibited attachment; attention seeking, clinginess; lower frequency of pretend play and reduced empathy. TS the negative impact of institutional care
- PRAC APP → real-world application to social services. Study helped change the way that children are looked after, esp. when it comes to the adoption process. Before, mothers encouraged to keep babies for a substantial period by which time the critical period for attachment formation may have passed. Nowadays, infants are adopted as early as one-week-old + children are as securely attached to their adoptive mothers and biologically related families (SINGER). TS the benefit of institutionalisation research to help improve the lives of children. BUT Issues of generalisation from Romanian orphan studies. Conditions of care were so dire for the Romanian orphans + they may have been traumatised from the war → can’t considered typical. ∴ results obtained from studies do not represent all situations where children are placed in care and experience deprivation. This lack of external validity is a result of the unusual situational variables due to the harsh political regimes at the time.
