Psychodynamic Approach - Classic Research: Bowlby, J. (1944)

Question 1

What is a case study

Answer 1

• a research investigation that involves a detailed study of a single individual, institution or event
• case studies provided a rich record of human experience but are hard to generalise from

Question 2

What is a control group

Answer 2

• the condition (in a repeated measure design) or group (in an independent groups design) that provides a baseline measure of behaviour without the experimental treatment (IV), so that the effect of the experiment treatment may be compared to the baseline

Question 3

What is opportunity sampling

Answer 3

A sample of participants produced by selecting people who are most easily available at the time of the study

Question 4

What is interview method

Answer 4

A research method or technique that involves a face-to-face ‘real time’ interaction with another individual and results in the collection of data

Question 5

Describe attachment theory

Answer 5

• prolonged separation from the mother during childhood can cause long lasting psychological problems
• it’s been noted that children who had a prolonged stay in hospital away from their mothers often had trouble readjusting to life back at home, and would show disturbances in their emotions and behaviour
• previous research supports the link between separation and disturbed behaviour

Question 6

describe the methodology

Answer 6

• a series of case studies
• The participants were split into two groups.
  1) the 44 ‘thieves’
  2) The control group of 44
• Therefore, there were 88 children which were the participants for this study who been referred to a clinic for guidance on emotional problems.

Question 7

describe the 1st group of participants in the methodology

Answer 7

• they were the focus of the study, comprised of 44 children from London who were thieves that were attending a child guidance clinic.
• There were 31 boys and 13 girls aged between 5 and 17 years old who had carried out stealing which ranged from one theft (graded a I for the seriousness of their stealing) to those who had stolen for a long time (graded a IV).
• They had a mean IQ of 100 (from a range of 85-114), with only 15 having a higher IQ and two with a low IQ.

Question 8

describe the 2nd group of participants in the methodology

Answer 8

• The control group were matched as much as possible to the focus group of thieves.
• The were a different set of 44 children from London who had the same age, sex and IQ. They were also emotionally disturbed like the thieves so the only difference between them is that the control group did not steal.

Question 9

who were the final participants in the methodology

Answer 9

• The final participants involved in this research were the mothers of the thieves and the mothers of the control group children.
• These mothers were interviewed to assess the case histories of the children

Question 10

describe the procedures

Answer 10

split into 2 sections
1) Initial examination (collected by opportunity sampling)
2) Therapy

Question 11

describe the procedures in the initial examination

Answer 11

• sample of 44 thieves was collected via opportunity sampling, where the researcher asked people who were available at the time at the clinic in London to take part.
• When children arrived at the clinic, they were met by a psychologist who tested their intelligence (using a Binet scale) and this psychologist also noted the emotional attitude of the child.
• Then a social worker was also introduced to the child’s mother to record preliminary details about the child’s early psychiatric history.
• After this, the psychologist and the social worker both reported to the psychiatrist John Bowlby, and he then interviewed both the child and the mother.
• This examination took place over 2 hours and they also considered school and other reports in order to reach their conclusions

Question 12

describe the procedures in the therapy

Answer 12

• many of the children decided to meet with Bowlby on a weekly basis over a period of six months or more and some of their mothers met with the social worker to discuss their problems.
• These meetings allowed Bowlby to gather more information for his case studies and enabled him to diagnose the children’s emotional problems.

Question 13

What are the 2 things to talk about for the findings

Answer 13

1) How the the results show an association of separation, affection, and thief
2) the other factors that Bowlby researched (traumatic events later in childhood + genetics)

Question 14

Describe how the findings showed an association between Separation, affectionless and stealing

Answer 14

Question 15

Describe the findings for the roles of:
1) traumatic events later in childhood
2) Genetics

Answer 15

1)
- child wouldn’t have become a criminal if it weren’t for a relatively recent incident
- in this study, there was 11 cases had recent traumatic events that caused the stealing
- cause by either a death of a close relative or jealousy at the birth of a new baby

2)
- 4 of the thieves had psychotic parent + 2 had psychotic grandparents (recognises role of psychosis)
- 11 had at least one neurotic/psychopathic parent
- only 22 had parents/grandparents who were mentally healthy

Question 16

Describe the conclusions

Answer 16

• Bowlby concluded that factors that inhibit the development of the ability to form relationships affect the likelihood of offending. The findings therefore support the assumptions that early childhood experiences affect later behaviours.
• Juvenile crime is not only attributed to psychological factors, it is linked to social and economic factors too. For example, poverty, lack of recreational activities, poor housing etc. are all equally important in paving out the path to criminal behaviour. A holistic approach should be taken to consider all factors and the impact of each of them on juvenile delinquent behaviour.
• If we consider these findings, then treatment should be offered to delinquents. The earlier a diagnosis is made, the better it is for treatment. However, it is an extremely slow and difficult process. A better approach is prevention rather than cure. It is sometimes unavoidable to prevent separation of a mother and child but if the people who are caring for the child during this time are made aware of the potential damage of the separation then they could implement strategies to provide good substitute emotional
  care.

Question 17

What is the alternative evidence

Answer 17

• Michael Rutter et al (2010)
• The case of John (Robertson and Robertson, 1971)

Question 18

Describe the the findings of Michael Rutter et al, does it support or contradict the findings from Bowlby

Answer 18

• Compared Romanian orphans who were adopted before the age of 6 months. Those adopted later lagged behind a control group on all measures of physical cognitive and social development
  Suggests:
  -support—> events in early childhood (such as separation) have damaging effects on a child’s development + the longer the separation = the more challenging to overcome
  -contradict—> it doesn’t prevent development (just delays) therefore separation isn’t long term and the effects are reversible

Question 19

Describe the findings from the case of John (Robertson and Robertson, 1971), does it support or contradict Bowlby

Answer 19

• film of John (aged under 3) who was cared by staff in a residential nursery for 9 days. The Staff regularly changed shifts and were too busy to care for his personal needs
• resulting in John becoming progressively more withdrawn and clinging to his teddy bear
• when John reunited with his mother = rejected her + punished her with outbursts of anger for several months
• in contrast: those cared for by a foster mother developed no emotional problems. The foster mother arranged to visit the mother in hospital regularly so that the emotional bond was maintained.
• when reunited = they embraced their mothers

———> suggests Bowlby’s findings are valid
—> maternal deprivation causes emotional difficulties for children
—> however it can be prevented by providing high quality (sensitive responsiveness) emotional care with 1 single substitute caregiver

Question 20

If evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology + procedure, what do you talk about

Answer 20

:)
- rich qualitative data was collected

:(
- based on recollections from parents
- the sample lacked population validity
- no causal findings

Question 21

Outline a PEEL paragraph (+ counter) for the case study being data rich (evaluation of M+P)

Answer 21

P: A strength of the research is that, as it was a case study, rich qualitative data was gained.
E: In the final report, there were 56 pages and 25 of them were discussing the case histories of the 44 thieves.
E: The vast detail of these case histories allows a great insight to the problems that may have contributed towards the juvenile delinquency.
L: This increases the external validity of the research as it is high in ecological validity
Counter: Limited to the viewpoint of only one person + data takes a long time to analyse + bias because it was only Bowlby collecting and recording this data

Question 22

Outline a PEEL paragraph (+ counter) for the case study being based on the recollections of parents (evaluation of M+P)

Answer 22

P: A weakness of the research is that the case studies were largely based on the recollections of the parents.
E: The parents were asked, during the interviews, to discuss childhood experiences that happened many years before.
E: The problem with this is that the recollections may not be accurate as it relies on memories which could become distorted over time or could be subject to social desirability bias.
L: If the recollections are not accurate, then this would threaten the internal validity of the research producing biased result
Counter: allowed Bowlby to collect rich, in-depth, highly detailed primary data to produce 25 pages that other methods wouldn’t have been able to collect.

Question 23

Outline a PEEL paragraph (+ counter) for the case study lacking population validity (evaluation of M+P)

Answer 23

P: A weakness of the sample is that it lacks population validity.
E:Both the 44 in thieves’ group and the 44 in the control group were emotionally disturbed.
E: Therefore, the results cannot be generalised to all children as not all juvenile delinquents are emotionally disturbed.
L: This threatens the external validity of the research as the results
cannot be generalised beyond the sample.
Counter: the control group was created from a matched pairs design (based on age, sex and IQ). This helped to provide a baseline comparison as well as reduce participant variables = higher internal validity

Question 24

Outline a PEEL paragraph (+ counter) for the case study not producing causal findings (evaluation of M+P)

Answer 24

P: A weakness of the procedure is that a cause-effect relationship cannot be established.
E: Bowlby didn’t manipulate variables within his research as he used non-experimental methods (case studies and interviews) to collect his data.
E: Therefore, a causal relationship between prolonged separation and emotional disturbance cannot be determined.
L: This threatens the internal validity of the study as other factors could’ve contributed towards the emotional disturbance.
Counter: Bowlby did take into account interviewing variables by researching the role of traumatic events later in childhood (death of close relative + birth of baby) and the role of genetics

Question 25

When taking about the ethical + social implications, what do you talk about

Answer 25

Ethical issues
- no confidentiality
- valid consent

Social implications
- childcare
- maternity leave

Question 26

Outline a PEEL paragraph (+ counter) for the ethical issue of no confidentiality

Answer 26

P: The participants were not given confidentiality.
E: Bowlby’s report named the boys used in the case studies with their first name and first initial of their surname. As well as using names, the case studies provided a lot of detail about their lives.
E: By using both the first name and the initial of the surname, it makes it easier to identify the participants because they all went to the same London clinic
L: there’s a risk of psychological harm through social embarrassment + child/parent reliving traumatic events
Counter: BPS guidelines weren’t introduced yet (1983) and Bowlby was (1944). It’s unfair to judge against the standards of today.

Question 27

Outline a PEEL paragraph (+ counter) for the ethical issue of valid consent

Answer 27

P: There may have been questions over valid consent.
E: Bowlby’s participants were children aged 5-17 years who were attending a child guidance clinic.
E: As children were used, in loco parentis was gained. However, it is expected today that children would also be informed about the nature of the research.
L: The parents gave consent for their child’s ‘treatment’ and because the data was collected retrospectively, they didn’t;t consent to the data being used in this study. Therefore it is unethical due to the lack of clarity if consent was really gained
Counter: How could Bowlby gained this consent? He wouldn’t know where these people are now, so how could he ask?

Question 28

Outline a PEEL paragraph (+ counter) for the social implication of childcare

Answer 28

P: Childcare has significant financial implications.
E: In 2019, the Family and Childcare Trust reported that, for children under 2, it costs £252.00 per week (UK average) for a place in fulltime nursery. To encourage families to return to work, the UK government introduced a scheme that allows parents to claim tax relief on childcare costs.
E: Without this scheme, it may not be financially viable for parents to return to work as the childcare costs would outweigh the money earned.
L: Although the costs to fund such a scheme is vast, ultimately, it should benefit the economy by facilitating the opportunity for parents to return to work, therefore promoting an effective workforce
Counter: if the number of children per staff member rises (as Robertson and Robertson 1971 found) it will result in more withdrawn and less responsive children

Question 29

Outline a PEEL paragraph (+ counter) for the social implication of maternity leave

Answer 29

P: The results of this research emphasise the importance of establishing a strong bond between the primary caregiver and child.
E: Parents are entitled to time off work following the birth of their child. More recently, in 2015, parents are now entitled to share this parental leave and can share the 52 weeks.
E: This means that the mother can return to work and the father/partner can use the time off work to care for the child.
L This change in the maternity leave is a huge societal shift from the traditional view that the mother should be a ‘stay at home housewife’
Counter: it’s not accessible to most due to the costs associated with it