psychology bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation Flashcards
what is separation versus deprivation
separation-child not being in presence of primary attachment figure
deprivation- causes harm due to separation if they are deprived of emotional care
what is the critical period
first two nad a half yrs as critical period for pyschological development
if child separated from mother in absence of suitable sub care and so deprived of emotional care for extended duration during critical period then psychological damage inevitable
continuing risk up to age of five
what are the effects on development
intellectual development-children deprived of maternal care for too long they would experience delayed intellectual development- abnormally low IQ
goldfarb- found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and had higher standard of emotional care
emotional development- affectionless psychopathy as inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards tohers, prevents person developing fulfilling relationships and is associated with criminality, affectionless psychopaths cant appreciate feelings of victims and so lack remorse for actions
what was bowlbys research
44 thieves study examined link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
44 criminal teens accused of stealing, all interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy characterised as lack of affection lack of guilt about their actions and lack of empathy for victims, families interviewed in order to establish whether thieves prolonged early separations from mothers, sample compared to control group of 44 non criminal but emotionally disturbed young people
found that 14 of 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths, 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from mothers in first two years of their lives, only 5 on remaining 30 thieves had experienced separations, only two pps in control group of 44 had experienced long separations, concluded that prolonged early separation or deprivation cuase affectionless osychpathy
what was flawed evidence
theory of maternal deprivation is poor quality of evidence it is based on
44 thieves study flawed- bowlby himself carried out both family interviews and assessments for affectionless psychopathy, left him open to bias because he knew in advance which teens he expected to show signs of psychopathy, also influenced by findings of goldfarbs research on devlopment of deprived children in wartime orphanages- had problems of confounding variables because children in study had experienced early trauma and instituional care as well as prolonged separation from primary caregivers
original sources of evidence for maternal deprivation had flaws and would not be taken seriously as evidence now
new line of research provided some modest support idea that maternal deprivation can have long term effects
levy-separating baby rats from mother for as little as a day had permanent effect on social development though not other asoects of development
although bowlby relied on flawed evidence to support theory of maternal deprivation there are other sources of evidence for his ideas
what is deprivation and privation
confusion between different types of early experience
rutter-drew important distinction between two types early negative experience, severe long term damage bowlby associated with deprovation more likely to be result of privation, children studied by goldfarb may have actually been result of privation, children studied by goldfarb actually been prived rather than deprived
deprivation-loss of primary attachment figure after
attachment has developed
children of 44 thieves study had disrupted eatly lives and may never have formed strong attachments
bowlby overestimated the seriousness of effects of deprivation in childrens development
privation-failure to form any attachment in first place-may take place when children brought up in institutional care
what is critical versus sensitive periods
idea of critical period
damage was inevitable if child had not formed attachment in first two and half yrs
evidence to suggest that in many cases good quality aftercare can prevent most or all of this damage
koluchova reported case of czech twins, twins experienced severe physical and emotional abuse from age of 18months up until they were 7, although severely damaged emotionally by experience they received excellent care and by their teens they had recovered fully
lasting harm is not inevitable even in cases of severe privation
critical period is better seen as sensitive period
