Psychodynamic - Main Study Flashcards
Describe’s what type of research is Bowlby
The study is a series of case studies. There was a control group even though the study was not an experiment.
The analysis looked at an association between the two groups of participants and the experiences of ‘maternal deprivation’. Participants found in an opportunity sample.
Describe the experimental group participants of Bowlby
The focus of the study was on 44 children aged 5-17. It consisted of 31 boys and 13 girls who all attended a child guidance clinic (orphanage) in London. All 44 of these children had symptoms of stealing, meaning they were all thieves. Although because many of them are young, very few of them had been charged in court.
The children were graded on the severity of their stealing from Grade 1-4. Grade 1 meant they had only committed one theft. – Only 4 children fell into this category. Grade 4 was the most severe level and 22 (half) thieves were in this grade.
50% of the thieves (22) had an IQ of between 85-114 with 15 having higher than 114 and two below 85.
Describe the control group participants of Bowlby
A control group was also used in the study consisting of another 44 children who attended the orphanage. They were all similar, age, IQ and gender. They were also considered ‘emotionally disturbed’ but they did not steal.
Therefore the sample for the study is 88 children from an orphanage who had emotional problems
Describe the procedures of Bowlby (4 main things)
(Used an Oppertunity Sample)
Firstly, on arrival to the clinic, each child was given an IQ test by a psychologist to assess their intelligence (IQ) this is called the Binet Scale
Next, the psychologist who conducted the test also notes the emotional attitude of the child. While this is happening a social worker interviews the child’s mother and recorded preliminary details about the child’s early psychiatric history.
After this, both the psychologist and social worker reported to Bowlby (the psychiatrist in the study). Bowlby then interviewed both the child and the mother.
After a 2-hour examination, the team reviewed school and other reports, discussing their conclusions.
Most of the children continued to meet with the psychiatrist on a weekly basis for a period of six months or more and the mothers talked about their problems with the social worker.
How did Bowlby determine what caused the experimental children to start stealing? (6 things)
By putting them into 6 various personality category’s
Normal – Children who appear fairly normal and stable – 2 children.
Depressed. – Children who have been unstable and are depressed – 9 children
Circular – Children who are unstable and show alternating depression and over activity. – 2 children
Hyperthymic – Children who demonstrate constant overactivity (hyper) – 13 children
Affectionless – Children who lack normal affection, shame or responsibility. – 14 children
Schizoid – schizophrenic symptoms. – 4 children.
What is significant about having 14 affectionless children of the 44
Of the 14 children, 12 had prolonged separation from their mothers.
17 of the 44 overall children had prolonged separation,
meaning 12 out of 17 children with prolonged separation were affectionless - showing clear correlation
What did Bowlby say about the 27 other mothers (ones who did not have prolonged separation from child)
The 27 remaining children who didn’t have prolonged separation had mothers who Bowlby claimed were ‘extremely oppressive’ in some way or another.
5 of the 27 had fathers who openly hated them.
What did Bowlby conclude
Bowlby concluded that factors that inhibit the development of the ability to form relationships increase the likelihood of offending.
The findings therefore support the assumptions that early childhood experiences affect later behaviours.
What can we conclude from Bowlby’s study?
(3 things)
We can conclude that 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.
Therefore, 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 possible treatment can 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.
What are the evaluative points of Bowlby
Methodology:
Strength: use of case studies
Weakness: lacks generalisability
Procedures:
weakness: relies on parent recollection
weakness: lack of cause and effect
Ethics:
Weakness: Lack of confidentiality
Weakness: Lack of valid consent
Social implication
Strength: Highlighted importance of childcare (Family and Childcare Trust)
Weakness: Changes to maternity+ leave
Give a strength of the methodology of Bowlby
A strength of the methodology is that, as it was a case study, rich qualitative data was gained. In the final report, there were 56 pages and 25 of them were discussing the case histories of the 44 thieves. The vast detail of these case histories allows a great insight to the problems that may have contributed towards the juvenile delinquency. This increases the external validity of the research as it is high in ecological validity
Give a weakness of the methodology of Bowlbly
A weakness of the sample is that it lacks population validity. Both the 44 in thieves’ group and the 44 in the control group were emotionally disturbed. Therefore, the results cannot be generalised to all children as not all juvenile delinquents are emotionally disturbed. This reduces the external validity of the research as the results cannot be generalised beyond the sample.
Give a weaknesses of the procedure of Bowlby
A weakness of the procedure is that the case studies were largely based on the recollections of the parents. The parents were asked, during the interviews, to discuss childhood experiences that happened many years before.
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. If the recollections are not accurate, then this would threaten the internal validity of the research producing biased results.
Give another weakness of the procedure of Bowlby to do with cause and effect
Another weakness of the procedure is that a cause-effect relationship cannot be established. Bowlby didn’t manipulate any variables within his research as he used non-experimental methods (case studies and interviews) to collect his data. Therefore, a causal relationship between prolonged separation and emotional disturbance cannot be determined. This reduces the internal validity of the study as other factors could have contributed towards the emotional disturbance.
What is a weakness of the ethics of Bowlby
One issue with the ethics of Bowlby is that the PP’s were not afforded confidentiality.
The report gives their first names and initial of their last name despite the case histories providing detailed description of their early lives making it easy for anyone to choose to identify the individual and their families.
Additionally it is not clear whether or not the children / families were aware of this.
