bowlbys maternal deprivation theory Flashcards
(12 cards)
what was the main idea of bowlbys maternal deprivation theory
bowlby put a large emphasis on the importance of an individuals attachment with their mother he even states that
'’mother love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health ‘’
what was the study that lead to his maternal deprivation theory?
44 thieves study (1944)
context and information on life in the 1930
no nhs
no universal benefits to help families so generally there was lack of wealth and families that were least fortunate were very poor (poverty was high)
90% of crimminal cases were theft
13 year olds appeared the most often in court
procedure of bowlbys thieves study 1944
he studied 88 children that were referred to his clinic - opportunity sample
group 1 - 44 of the children (juveniles ) were referred to bowlby because of thef
group 2 - the other 44 juveniles (children) were referred to Bowlby for emotional problems
matched in terms of age and IQ
Each child was given mental tests on arrival to assess their intelligence and their emotional attitude towards the test
whilst the children were being tested a social worker interviewed their mothers to obtain a psychactric history of the childs life eg a nny period of separation from the mother
the psychologist and social worker then gave their reports to the psychatrist john bolwby who then interviwerd firs tthe child and tthen the mother other unbfirmation was reviwed such a schooll reports as well
findings of the study
14 children from the juvenile thieve group who were identified as affectionless psychopaths
whats an affectionless psychopaths
– a person who lacks empathy for others showing little affection or concern for others including a lack of guilt about their actions
what did else he find about the 14 ?
he found that of the 14 juveniles from the thieve condtion 12/14 experienced prolonged separation from mother in the first 2 years of life
in contrast to only 2/44 in the other condition (no crime committed) who experienced prolonged separation - none of them were affectionless psychopath
so what is the maternal deprivation theory
early separation of a child from the primary caregiver during a criticial period can have irreversible damaging consequences for the development of the child eg the 44 thieves study
define critical period
a window of time frame in which an attachment needs to be formed, an inability to do this can lead to long lasting negative effects on an individual eg before 2.5 but a risk up to 5 years
what is the law of accumulated separation
the law of accumulated separation is that every separation a child has from their caregiver can add up therefore the safest dose is zero dose - which means no separation at all
what did john say about irreversibility
- bowlby states these consequences are irreversible
what are the consequences of maternal deprivation?
- affectionless psychopathy
- deliquency - minor crimes committed by young people
-lower cognitive abilities - problems forming relationships in the future (this leads to bowlbys internal working model in his monotropic theory)
