Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation

Question 1

what is maternal deprivation

Answer 1

the emotional and intellectual consequences of seperation between a child and his primary caregiver

Question 2

what does bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation focus on

Answer 2

the idea that continual presence of care from a mother is essential for normal development of babies

Question 3

what is seperation

Answer 3

the child not being in the presence of the primary attachmnt figure

Question 4

what is deprivation

Answer 4

extended seperation and the child has no emotional care

Question 5

what is privation

Answer 5

where a bond has never had the chance to form in the first place

Question 6

when is the critical period for humans

Answer 6

the first 2.5 years

Question 7

what effect does maternal deprivation have on intellecutal development

give a study

Answer 7

• experience delayed intellectual development characterised by low IQ
• goldfarb: found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered

Question 8

what effect does maternal deprivation have on emotional development

Answer 8

• affactionless psychopathy
• this is the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others
• this prevents a person from developing normal relationships

Question 9

what was bowlbys procedure to research maternal deprivation

Answer 9

• 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing
• interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
• their families alsop interviewed to establsh wether the criminals had prolonged early seperation from their mothers
• he carries out both the interviews and assesments for affectionless psycopathy

Question 10

what is a limitation of bowlbys research into maternal deprivation

Answer 10

• bolwby conducted both the family interviews and assesemnts for affectionless psycopathy
• this left him open to bias because he knew in advance which teenagers he expected t show signs of psycopathy

Question 11

what were the findings of bowlbys reseach into maternal deprivation

Answer 11

• 14 of the 44 criminals could be descried as affectionless psycopaths
• 12 of these had experienced prolongued seperation
• bowlby concluded that prolonged early seperation caused affectionless psycopathy

Question 12

give a study that contradicts bowlbys research into maternal deprivation

Answer 12

hilda lewis

• replicated the 44 thieves study but using 500 young people
• her findings showed no links between prolonged seperation and criminality or inability to form relationships in the future

Question 13

strength

evaluate maternal deprivation

Answer 13

• P - suppoprting evidence
• Eg - bowlbys 44 thieves study. 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as having affectionless psychopathy and of these 14, 12 had experiences prologned seperation
• Ex - thisb suggests maternal deprivation during the critical period can lead to long term consequences like affectionless psycopathy, characterised by a lack of guilt
• L - this adds validity to the idea that prolonged maternal seperation can have sever emotional consequences for children
• H - bowlby conducted the interviews and assesed the children himself so there may be researcher bias

Question 14

limitation

evaluate maternal deprivation

Answer 14

• P - contradictory evidence
• Eg - hilda lewis replicated bowlbys 44 thieves study with 500 young people. she found no link between prolonged seperation and later criminality or difficulty in forming relationships
• Ex - this suggetss maternal deprivation may not have as significant an impact as bowlby proposed
• L - this challenges the idea that meternal deprivation leads to affectionless psycopathy or criminal behaviour
• H - bowlbys research focused on teenagers while lewis study focused on a broader populaton whihc may have diluted the specific effects bowlby was concerned with