maternal deprivation

Question 1

what is bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 1

• deprivation occurs when an attachment bond is formed between an infant and caregiver but is broken later in life
• he believed that ongoing maternal deprivation would have lasting negative effects on a child’s emotional and mental development
• effects would be at their most acute during the critical period, but there is a risk of consequences up til 5 years old

Question 2

44 juvenile thieves (bowlby, 1944) - aim

Answer 2

see if early separation from the primary caregivers was associated with behavioural disorders. he focused on affectionless psychopaths who had no sense of shame or guilt

Question 3

44 juvenile thieves (bowlby, 1944) - method

Answer 3

• he examined children aged 5-16 who’d been referred to a guidance clinic where he worked
• 44 were criminals, and 44 non-criminals were used as a control group
• he interviewed them and their families about early life experiences

Question 4

44 juvenile thieves (bowlby, 1944) - results

Answer 4

• 14 of the 44 criminals were identified as affectionless psychopaths, 12 of these had experienced early and prolonged deprivation
• only 17% of the other criminals and 4% of the control group had experienced the same deprivations

Question 5

44 juvenile thieves (bowlby, 1944) - conclusion

Answer 5

• suggests a link between early separations and later social issues
• the maternal deprivation hypothesis appears to cause affectionless psychopathy and antisocial behaviour

Question 6

give a strength of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
1/1

Answer 6

his research has had positive impacts on institutions such as hospitals, where prolonged separation from caregivers is expected. historically, visiting children in hospital was restricted or forbidden. for example, a researcher observed 2 year old laura who was hospitalised for 8 days, demonstrating severe emotional distress due to the deprivation she experienced. after psychological insight into how to provide quality substitute emotional care in the absence of parents, key changes have occurred

Question 7

give a limitation of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
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Answer 7

research by lewis (1944) counters bowlby’s theory. he replicated the juvenile thieves study with a larger sample but didn’t find that early separation and deprivation predicted a greater chance of criminal behaviour. this casts doubt on bowlby’s theory, suggesting that perhaps other factors may mediate the consequences of maternal deprivation, such as attachment type

Question 8

give a limitation of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
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Answer 8

bowlby’s findings were purely correlational. he found a relationship between early deprivation and later behavioural issues (affectionless psychopathy), but it is not clear that these issues were caused by the early separation, therefore cause and effect cannot be established. we cannot conclude that separation leads to behavioural issues and affectionless psychopathy

Question 9

give a limitation of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
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Answer 9

bowlby has been criticised for not making the distinction between deprivation and privation clear. rutter (1982) suggests that privation, mot having the opportunity to develop an attachment at all, it much more damaging to a child than having an attachment broken. he disapproved of bowlby’s use of the word deprivation, believing he was using the 2 terms interchangeably