Bowlby's Theory of maternal deprivation

Question 1

AO1

Answer 1

Maternal deprivation is the prolonged separation and absence of the love and care of a mother figure due to the loss of an existing attachment.
If a child is deprived from their mother or a suitable substitute carer during the critical period (birth-2.5 yrs), then Bowbly believed there will be serious psychological and permanent consequences that cannot be reversed.
There are long-term effects of maternal deprivation:
Poor intellectual development and low IQ.
Affectionless psychopathy - the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion meaning it is associated with criminality.
Delinquency - child is likely to engage in criminal activity.
Poor internal working model - future relationships will not be positive or long lasting.
Bowlby based this theory on the 44 thieves study which examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation. He found that out of 44 thieves, 14 displayed signs of affectionless psychopathy, and 12 of these had suffered maternal deprivation in the critical period. This was compared to only 5 affectionless psychopaths in the non-criminal control group.

Question 2

AO3 - bias

Answer 2

Bowlby’s 44 thieves study was biased. This is because he chose the sample of thieves himself, and also diagnosed affectionless psychopathy himself. As Bowlby would have been aware of what he wanted to find, he may have phrased the interview questions in a manner that influenced the respondents to answer in some type of way. This is an example of leading questions and will consequently decrease the reliability of the study.
Furthermore, just because there is a correlation between early deprivation and later problems, correlations cannot show cause. Therefore, we cannot be certain that the long-term effects are a direct result of deprivation.

Question 3

AO3 - institutionalised group lower IQ

Answer 3

There is evidence to support Bowlby’s theory. A researcher compared children raised in institutions for the first 3 years of their lives with a control group who were fostered or adopted earlier. They found that the institutionalised group had lower IQs than the control group. Therefore supports the maternal deprivation theory that deprivation from a maternal figure during the critical period will lead to serious long-term consequences - poor intellectual development.
Furthermore, other researchers who studied South American orphanages found evidence of severe depression in them - poor emotional development.

Question 4

AO3 - case study

Answer 4

Bowlby argued that the effects of deprivation in the critical period are irreversible. However, there is research that opposes this. E.g. a case study of twins who were locked in a cupboard for first 7 years of their life. However they made a full recovery.