Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis

Question 1

Deprivation refers to:

Answer 1

When an infant loses the attachment and emotional care that is provided by a primary care giver. Bowlby believed this can have dire effects

Question 2

What are the two possible 12 markers?

Answer 2

“Describe and evaluate the RESEARCH into maternal deprivation.”
“Describe and evaluate the THEORY of maternal deprivation.”

Question 3

What to write when the question asks to “Describe and evaluate the RESEARCH into maternal deprivation.”

Answer 3

All emotional effects
All intellectual effects
Key research: 44 thieves study

Question 4

What to write when the question asks to “Describe and evaluate the THEORY of maternal deprivation.”

Answer 4

All emotional effects
All intellectual effects
+ use 44 thieves study as a strength eval not AO1

Question 5

What was Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?

Answer 5

Maternal deprivation means a separation between a child and their mother figure during the critical period that disrupts the formation of attachment. Suffering from maternal deprivation leads to irreversible damage, emotionally and intellectually.

Question 6

Emotional effects:

Answer 6

• Lack of internal working model
• Affectionless psychopathy
• Delinquency (only write if question abt THEORY)

Question 7

Lack of internal working model:

Answer 7

Since child lacks primary caregiver, they fail to develop a healthy template for what to expect from future intimate relationships. This negatively affects emotional and social development (e.g. inability to form healthy relationships in the future)

Question 8

Affectionless psychopathy:

Answer 8

As a result of maternal deprivation, they are less likely to feel guilt or remorse for their actions, or have a sense of shame when they do something wrong.

Question 9

Delinquency:

Answer 9

Those that suffer from maternal deprivation show higher rates of delinquency; misbehaving and commiting minor crimes at a young age.

Question 10

Intellectual effect:

Answer 10

• Mental retardation

Question 11

Mental retardation:

Answer 11

Children deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period suffer fro mental retardation, characterised by abnormally low IQ. Goldfarb (1947) supported this claim as he studied children who remained in institutions (instead of getting adopted) and thus were maternally deprived, had a lower IQ due to the lower standard of emotional care.

Question 12

What was the procedure in the 44 thieves study:

Answer 12

Through information provided by a Child Guidance Clinic, Bowlby analysed case history of children who were diagnosed as maladjusted. 44 of these children had been caught stealing before and some did not even show signs of shame or responsibility (14 out of 44) . Bowlby called them ‘affectionless thieves’

Question 13

How many ‘affectionless thieves’ were there?

Answer 13

14 out of 44

Question 14

What were the findings in the 44 thieves study:

Answer 14

• 86% (12/14) of the ‘affectionless thieves’ had experienced early separation from the mothers. (Separation includes stays in hospitals or foster homes where little contact with families.)
• On the other hand, only 5 out of the remaining 30 thieves had experienced separation from mother.

Question 15

What was Bowlby’s conclusion from the 44 thieves study:

Answer 15

Based on the 44 thieves study, Bowlby devised his theory of maternal deprivation which includes both emotional and intellectual effects, such as mental retardation and affectionless psychopathy.

Question 16

One strength of the mental deprivation hypothesis is that there is supporting evidence for increased emotional consequences.

Answer 16

For example, Bifulco et al (1992) conducted a study on women who had experienced separation from their mothers either because of separation or maternal death. Bifulco found that 25% experienced depression or anxiety disorder in later life, compared to 15% of those who had no experience of separation. The mental health problems were much greater in those women whose loss occurred before the age of 6.
This is a strength bc it shows that the loss of a mother figure leads to long-term damage to emotional development. Moreover, Bifulco showed that the closer the maternal deprivation occurs to the critical period, the more significant the emotional damage. This adds validity to the MD theory

Question 17

A weakness of MD theory is that there is refuting evidence from Lewis.

Answer 17

Lewis (1954) partially replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale, with 500 people. In her sample, maternal separation did not lead to difficulty in forming relationships or
criminality. WB = it shows that the effects of MD are not consistent for everyone.
There may be other factors that influence the impact of MD on delinquency and animal behaviour in later life. As MD theory does not account for these other factors, it does not provide a complete explanation of how MD affects behaviour, which decreases the validity of the theory.

Question 18

A weakness of MD theory is that there is evidence that refutes the argument that the effects of MD are reversible.

Answer 18

Bowlby used the term critical period because he believed that prolonged separation during this period will lead to problems later on in life. In the case of the Koluchova twins (1976), the twin brothers were isolated from the age of 18 months to 7 years as their step mother kept them locked in a cupboard. However, when they were given the care of two loving adults, the twins recovered fully, and went on having loving families other own.
WB: shows that the negative impact of MD is reversible and that receiving high emotional quality care can reverse damage and allows the formation of functional emotional bonds. Bowlby underestimated the impact of good care and how this can reverse the impact of MD. Decrease in validity of MD

Question 19

A weakness of MD theory is that Bowlby over emphasises the impact of losing a Monotropy attachment, thus not acknowledging other attachments.

Answer 19

For example, Schaffer and Emerson found that although most infants have a specific attachment by 10 months, around 30% also had multiple attachments.
WB: suggests that by overemphasising the impact of losing the main attachment, Bowlby failed to acknowledge the importance of other secondary attachments that may compensate for the loss of primary attachment in the CP. it could be the case that despite losing the main attachment figure, other attachments in someone’s life can give adequate emotional care and stimulation a child needs to go through for normal emotional and intellectual development.
Thus decreases the validity of the theory.