Psychodynamic Contemporary debate - Mother as the PCG

Question 1

✔ FEEDING - point?

Answer 1

• the mother should be the PCG for feeding purposes

Question 2

✔ FEEDING - evidence - NHS?

Answer 2

• The NHS recommends that infants should be breastfed for at least the first 6 months of their lives
• this is bc breastfeeding provides important long term benefits for infants such as protecting infants from infections, diseases & obesity

Question 3

✔ FEEDING - evidence - oxytocin?

Answer 3

• feeding also increases bonding between mother and baby through the release of oxytocin the ‘love and bonding’ hormone

Question 4

✔ FEEDING - evidence - Freud? ⭐

Answer 4

⭐ - Freud suggested that infants rely on their mother to satisfy the needs of their libido in the oral stage of psychosexual development. Frustration would lead to fixation which would lead to emotional & behavioural problems later in life e.g. neediness, overeating, smoking, envy

Question 5

✔ FEEDING - explain?

Answer 5

thfr, the feeding argument means that it is essential for the physical and emotional development that the mother takes the role of the PCG and that the father/ other care givers are limited to a supporting role

Question 6

❌ Feeding - point?

Answer 6

However, the role of feeding is over- estimated thfr the role of the PCG goes beyond feeding

Question 7

❌ Feeding - evidence - Harlow’s monkeys?

Answer 7

• studies demonstrate that food does not equal love. Harlow (1959) found that infant monkeys spent 80% of the day with their wire ‘cloth mother’ and sig less time w their wire ‘food mother’
• this suggests that it is contact comfort not food which creates the emotional bond between an infant and its PCG meaning that anyone could take this role

Question 8

❌ Feeding - evidence - Schaffer & Emerson?

Answer 8

Schaffer & Emerson (1964) found that children form multiple attachments with those who they spend the most time with and who are most responsive to their needs rather than the person who feeds them.

Question 9

❌ Feeding - evid - Freud? ⭐

Answer 9

⭐ furthermore, Freud’s views are now widely regarded as outdated and with little scientific credibility

Question 10

❌ Feeding - explain?

Answer 10

these studies challenge the view that the mother should be the PCG. Anyone can take the role of comforting, caring and responding for the child, which leads to healthy development

Question 11

✔ maternal deprivation - point?

Answer 11

maternal deprivation can have damaging consequences

Question 12

✔ maternal deprivation - evid - Bowlby?

Answer 12

• Emotional damage: Bowlby found that maternal separation is associated with an affectionless character (someone who lacks the ability to feel normal affection, shame or sense of responsibility)
• Bowlby found that of 14 children identified as ‘affectionless’ 12 had suffered maternal deprivation

Question 13

✔ maternal deprivation - evid - Ermisch and Francesconi? ⭐

Answer 13

⭐ - Cognitive development: Ermisch and Francesconi fond that the children of mothers who work full time have slower emotional development and score less well in reading and maths tests.

• Early return to work reduced the child’s chance of progressing to A level from 60% to 50%.
• the damage is more evident for less educated mothers who return to work early - CONSEQUENCES ARE LESS SEVERE ON CHILDREN OF BETTER EDUCATED MOTHERS
• Furthermore, they found that whether the dad worked or not had no impact on the child’s development

Question 14

✔ maternal deprivation - explain?

Answer 14

this evid suggests that mother should be the PCG to avoid negative consequences on the child’s emotional and cognitive development

Question 15

❌ Maternal deprivation - point?

Answer 15

However, there is no conclusive evid that maternal deprivation is damaging

Question 16

❌ Maternal deprivation - Evidence - Bowlby?

Answer 16

contradictory research by bowly (1956) found that children with Tuberculosis who had long periods of separation showed very few problems later on in life

Question 17

❌ Maternal deprivation - Evidence - McGinn? ⭐

Answer 17

⭐ - McGinn (2016) found that daughters of working mothers enjoy better careers, higher pay and more equal relationships that those raised by stay-at-home mothers
- The study used data from 24 countries and found that the daughters of working mothers were paid around 4% more than their peers

Question 18

❌ Maternal deprivation - explain?

Answer 18

this suggests that children can develop well despite maternal sep and the PCG role is not exclusively for the mother. It may even be argued that working mothers facilitate better development

Question 19

✔ biological + social factors - point? ⭐ - BOTH

Answer 19

Mothers should be the PCG as they are psychologically more able to build a bond with the child due to bio/ and or social factors

Question 20

✔ biological + social factors - evid - oestrogen? ⭐ - BOTH

Answer 20

The hormone Oestrogen (which females have higher levels of) underlies caring behav so females are biologically more adapted to the role of PCG

Question 21

✔ biological + social factors - evid - gender stereotypes?

Answer 21

Gender stereotypes affect male behaviour e.g. men are socialised to be less sensitive and nurturing as these are viewed as feminine traits. Heerman et al 1994 found men are less sensitive to infant cues than mothers are

Question 22

✔ biological + social factors - explain?

Answer 22

according to this argument, women are more suited to the role of PCG

Question 23

❌ Biological and social factors - point?

Answer 23

However, this argument is sexist and ignores the important role fathers play

Question 24

❌ Biological and social factors - evid - hormones?

Answer 24

• Men’s hormones also alter in response to parenthood.

- Gettler et al 2011 found that father’s testosterone levels drop to help the man respond to his child’s needs

Question 25

❌ Biological and social factors - evid - role of fathers?

Answer 25

Role of fathers is equally import = playful/ physically active / providing challenge for children (Gieger 1996)

Question 26

❌ Biological and social factors - evid - male families?

Answer 26

• single male parent families and male same sex parent families provide evid that men can form close attachments with their children.
• Our changing stereotypes mean that men and women feel freer to take on roles of the opposite sex e.g. PCG role

Question 27

❌ Biological and social factors - evid - AKA Tribe? ⭐⭐

Answer 27

⭐⭐In the AKA Tribe in Africa men take on an important caregiving role illustrating that men can be every bit as respondent to an infant’s needs

Question 28

❌ Biological and social factors - explain?

Answer 28

this suggests the role of PCG isn’t exclusively for the mother.
Fathers are just as well equipped as women to provide primary care for their offspring and play a vital role in a child’s’ development.

Question 29

General for debate:

Answer 29

• capped at 14/24 if only use txtbk info
• it’s a scientific essay - not ‘i think’ - use evid
• the ethical, social and economic implications could be a 6 marker on its own - spec. says must include
• do this question FIRST
• 12 AO1 - description marks and 12 AO3 - eval
• IF STATEMENT USE THROUGHOUT
• guaranteed question

Question 30

IMPLICATIONS OF THE DEBATE: ethical?

Answer 30

• the view mothers should take on the role of PCG is a socially sensitive issue
• if this was widely accepted, it would encourage discrimination against women in many forms
• e.g. women treated unfairly when applying for jobs and prevented from having careers due to the expectation that they stay at home
• women who go out to work may be negatively judged by others and perhaps viewed as inferior or ‘bad mothers’
• this could lead to feelings of guilt for mothers who are unable or choose not to take the role of PCG

Question 31

IMPLICATIONS OF THE DEBATE: Social?

Answer 31

• however, we live in a society that promotes equality of oppor and even have laws such as the Equality act 2010 to protect against discrimination
• Fthrmr, changes in social policy mean society mean society is recognising that traditional views on PCG re changing.
• • From April 2015, parents are entitled to share parental leave.
• • this means mothers & fathers can equally share the 52 weeks leave after having a baby.
• however, currently only 1% of fathers take up shared parental leave suggesting societies views on the PCG are only slowly changing

Question 32

IMPLICATIONS OF THE DEBATE: economic?

Answer 32

• since industrialisation in the 19th century, the workforce has needed women which has meant that childcare was needed.
• the economic costs of childcare for both the family and society are significant
• the average annual cost of sending a child to full time nursery care is £9,850.
• in 2014, the gov introduced a scheme to allow parents to claim tax relief on childcare costs to incentivise parents to work
• this demonstrates that for the economy to thrive it needs a diverse workforce that includes women
• if women were ‘the best PCG’ this would have huge implications for the economy in terms of skills gaps and not being able to meet the demands of the economy

Question 33

OVERALL CONCLUSIONS?

Answer 33

• the argument that the mother should be the PCG is outdated
• there is no conclusive evid that the primary giver has to be female
• do children need ONE primary caregiver or can multiple attachments be just as beneficial
• role of father is also imp
• there are many factors that might influence the well being of a child

Question 34

✡NO CONCLUSION IF?

Answer 34

ITS WORTH LESS THAN 10 MARKS IN COMP 1