maternal deprivation

Question 1

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 1

• continuous maternal care is crucial for a child’s psychological development.
• ## if a child experiences prolonged separation from their primary caregiver during the critical period without substitute then it could lead to irreversable consequenceskey aspects:
• critical period: first 2.5 years which are crucial for emotional and social development
• effects on development: leads to affectionless psychopathy and low IQ
• long term effects: mental health issues, difficulty forming relationships, delinquency

Question 2

evaluation of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 2

SUPPORTING
bowlby’s 44 theives study
- 44 delinquents compared to 44 emotionally disturbed children
- 14/44 displayed traits of affectionless psychopathy, 12/14 of those experienced prolonged separations from their mothers in early life
- concluded that early disruptions in attachment could lead to emotional problems and delinquent behaviour

gao et al
- chinese adolescents
- found that parental separation was linked to higher levels of emotional and behavioural problems

LIMITING:
- Koluchova’ czech twins study
- case study on czech twins who experienced severe physical and emotional abuse from 18 months to 7 years old.
- they were able to recover after their severe damage by recieving excellet and high quality care.
- social, emotional and intellectual development was normal by adulthood.
- contradicts idea of permenant damage to IQ and emotional development

Practical application
- has strong practical applications in making sure children recieve appropriate substitutions in foster care practices.
- minimises institutional care