Attachment : Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

what is maternal deprivation?

Answer 1

the emotional and physical consequences of separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute

Question 2

what two aspects of a child’s development can maternal deprivation have an effect on?

Answer 2

intellectual development
emotional development

Question 3

what is an effect on intellectual development characterised by?

Answer 3

abnormally low IQ

Question 4

what study was the effect on intellectual development showcased?

Answer 4

Goldfarb 1947
found lower IQ in institutionalised children than fostered

Question 5

what year was Bowlby’s 44 thieves study conducted?

Answer 5

1944

Question 6

what did the 44 thieves study examine?

Answer 6

link between affection-less psychopathy and maternal deprivation

Question 7

what was the sample used in the 44 thieves study?

Answer 7

44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing

Question 8

outline the procedure of the 44 thieves study

Answer 8

‘thieves’ interviewed for signs of affection less psychopathy
families interviewed to establish whether ‘thieves’ had prolonged early separations from their mothers
sample compared to control group of 44 non criminal but emotionally disturbed young people

Question 9

what is affectionless psychopathy characterised by?

Answer 9

lack of affection
lack of guilt for actions
lack of empathy for victims

Question 10

what were the findings of the 44 thieves study?

Answer 10

14/44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths
12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from mum in 1st 2ys
only 5 of remaining 30 experienced separations
2 p’s in control group experienced long separations

Question 11

what did Bowlby conclude from his 44 thieves experiment

Answer 11

prolonged separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy

Question 12

name a limitation of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation (hint: evidence)

Answer 12

based on poor quality evidence
44 thieves study flawed because Bowlby conducted interviews and assessments for AP himself
bias possible because he knew in advance which teenagers he expected to show signs of AP
also influenced by Goldfarb’s (1943) study which had confounding variables because children had experienced early trauma + institutional care as well as prolonged separation from primary caregivers
means bowlbys original sources of evidence for maternal deprivation had flaws and would not be taken seriously as evidence in modern day

Question 13

name a limitation of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation (hint: early experience types)

Answer 13

bowlby’s confusion over types of early experience
Ritter (1981) drew distinction between 2 types of early negative experience
deprivation = loss of primary attachment figure after attachment formed
privation = attachment not developed in first place
severe long term damage bowlby associated with deprivation more likely to be result of privation
children goldfarb studied may have been ‘prived’ not deprived
many children in 44 thieves had disrupted early lives and may have never formed strong attachments
means bowlby may have overestimated seriousness of effects of deprivation on child’s development

Question 14

name a limitation of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation (hint: critical periods)

Answer 14

bowlby’s idea of critical period
bowlby - ‘damage inevitable if child not formed attachment in 1st 2 1/2 years (critical period)’
evidence to suggest in many cases good quality aftercare can prevent damage
koluchova (1976) reported case of Czech twins
experienced severe physical and emotional abuse from 18 months - 7 years but through good care recovered fully by teens
means lasting harm not inevitable even in cases of severe privation
‘critical period’ therefore better seen as ‘sensitive period’