Maternal deprivation

Question 1

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 1

Bowbly considered that a stong attachment to a mother figure was essential for the psychological, emotional and intellectual development of infants.

Maternal deprivation ⇒ long-lasting problems

• delayed intellectual development
• affectionless psycopathy - lack guilt, increased criminality

Critical period: first 2.5 years

Prolonged separation from primary attachment

in absence of subsitute care

leads to inevitable damage

Question 2

KEY STUDIES

Answer 2

KEY STUDIES

• Goldfarb
• Bowlby 44 thieves

Question 3

GOLDFARB

Answer 3

Goldfarb

• found lower IQ in children who were in institutions rather than fostercare

Question 4

BOWLBY’s 44 THIEVES - PROCEDURE

Answer 4

Bowlby’s 44 Thieves

• 44 teenage delinquents
• interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
• families interviewed to establish any maternal deprivation
• control of 44 non-criminal teens with emotional problems

Question 5

BOWLBY’s 44 THIEVES - FINDINGS

Answer 5

• 14/44 theives were affectionless psychopaths
• 17/44 had maternal separation
• of those 14 affectionless psycopaths, 12 experienced deprivation during critical period
• in control, 2/44 maternal separation, 0 affectionless psycopaths
• maternal deprivation increases risk of AP and criminality

Question 6

EVALUATION

Answer 6

EVALUATION

• Methodological issues
• Counter evidence - Lewis
• Animal studies show support - Levy et al
• Critical period may be more of a sensitive period - Koluchova

Question 7

EVAL: Methodological issues

Answer 7

Methodological issues

• Bowbly drew his theory on research including orphaned children during WW2
• but war orphans were traumatised, often had poor after care and lacked nutritious care and cognitive stimulation (confounding variables) - might have been the cause of later development difficulties rather than separation
• weakness, lacks control - low internal validity
• researcher bias - Bowlby carried out assessments and interviews knowing what he hoped to find
• conclusions may not be accurate - low internal validity

Question 8

EVAL: Counter evidence from Lewis

Answer 8

Counter evidence from Lewis

• replicated 44 thieves study with 500 young people
• prolonged separation did not predict criminality or affectionless psychopathy
• research findings have low reliability as other factors may have been the cause

Question 9

EVAL: Animal studies show support

Answer 9

Animal studies show support

• Levy et al showed the separating rats can have a permanent effect on their social development though not other aspects of their development
• reliable empirical evidence
• C/A humans more emotionally complex and intelligent than rats

Question 10

EVAL: Critical period may be more of a sensitive period

Answer 10

Critical period may be more of a sensitive period

• Koluchova reported the casee of twin boys from Czechoslovakia who were isolated at 18 months until 7 years old
• they were then looked after by 2 loving adults and appeared to recover fully
• contradicts Bowlby’s conclusion of inevitable and irreversible damage#
• theory has low reliability and challenging validity
• C/A case studies have small samples and findings are not as easily generalisable to wider populations