Maternal deprivation - EVALUATION Flashcards
one strength is that the 44 thieves study SUPPORTS the theory
This supports the LINK between m.d. and problems with emotional development I.E affectionless psychopathy as 12/14 of the psycho’s DID have deprivation in the critical period.
one issue is that it can only suggest a relationship between deprivation and the LATER problems that were shown. e.g. affectionless psychopathy
This is an issue as we CAN’T say thath the deprivation ACTUALLY caused the rsultant problems, and so it’s not as USEFUL in supporting the theory which suggests that deprivation DOES cause these problems.
one issues is that not all research supports Bowlby’s findings. Lewis replicated study with 500 ppts with a history of proplonged separation and did NOT predict criminality of difficulty forming close relationships
This is an issue as it CONTRADICTS Bowlby’s M.D theory as he stated a history of deprivation WOULD lead to a low IQ and development of affectionless psychopathy.
But this wasn’t the case in this instance, going AGAINST his theory of maternal deprivation.
one weakness is that case study of Koluchova twins, who were locked in a cupboard from 18mo-7 years were adopted by loving adults and they recovered fully.
This is a problem because it CONTRADICTS the M.D theory as we would EXPECT them to suffer from a low IQ or become affection-less psycho’s, as they were deprived DURING the critical period, but they did not.
However, the boys had each other whilst they were in the cupboard. How could this affect this as counter-evidence?
It could be suggested that they may NOT have been deprived as they could have formed an ATTACHMENT with each OTHER.
Therefore this questions this case study as EFFECTIVE evidence against the theory of M.D
