short and long term effects of deprivation

Question 1

what did bowlby think about separation?

Answer 1

bowbly believed that a child should have a close bond with a mother figure during the first five years of life
- separation from the mother could have serious consequences for the emotional development of the child

this was based on observations conducted at the child guidance clinic and those made by other researchers at the time on children in institutional care

Question 2

what is separation anxiety?

Answer 2

separation anxiety can be observed in children from around 7 months
- they display a desire to be close to their mother and display distress when separated
- robertson (1952) along with bowlby made some detailed observation notes of children’s distress at separation which led them to suggest three stages to distress that children undergo

Question 3

what are the short term effects of deprivation?

Answer 3

the PDD model:
- protest
- despair
- detachment

Question 4

what is protest (PDD)?

Answer 4

initial stage - can last several hours or days and the child is seen to cry profusely, throw himself around and seek for the mother figure
- the child will actively refuse comfort

Question 5

what is despair (PDD)?

Answer 5

once the intial protest and screaming stops, the child no longer anticipates the return of the mother and becomes increasingly hopeless.
- the child will become withdrawn, apathetic and demonstrates mourning
- the child self-soothes and rejects the comfort of others; often displaying rocking, thumb sucking and cuddling inanimate objects

Question 6

what is detachment (PDD)?

Answer 6

the child regains an interest in its environment and even accepts comfort and interaction with other adults
- when the mother returns it does not display usual reunion behaviour but will reject the mother and not accept her comfort.
- the child will reject his mother as she has seemingly rejected them
- prolonged or repeated separations can lead to rather superficial interactions between the child and other adult figures

Question 7

what are the long term effects (MDH model)?

Answer 7

vulnerability to mental health problems such as depression
- bowlby’s 44 thieves showed that children who experienced prolonged separations as young children often developed mental health issues such as affectionless pychopathy

Question 8

how can there be a reduction of the negative effects of deprivation?

Answer 8

• provision of a substitute mother can compensate for the loss of emotional care
• robertson and robertson (1967-73) cared for young children in their own home while the children’s mothers were in hospital and demonstrated that there were fewer ill efects from separation if good quality care was provided

the aim is to provide secondary attachments

Question 9

what is a wealness of bowlby’s correlational research?

Answer 9

correlational research does not establish causation
- while bowbly’s research might show a relationship between deprivation and later issues, it cannot definitvely prove that deprivatoin causes these issues - other variables may be influencing

Question 10

what are the individual differences in attachment and responses to short-term deprivation?

Answer 10

• temperament - children have different temperaments which can affect how they respond to deprivation - some children may be more resilient while others can be more sensitive
• previous attachment experiences - a child’s previous experiences with attachment figures can influence their response - securely attached children might cope better wiht short-term deprivation compared to those with insecure attachments
• support systems - the presence of other supportive relationships (other caregivers) can mitigate the negative effects of short-term deprivation

Question 11

what is the evaluation of the 44 thieves?

Answer 11

the effects of long-term deprivation are showed by bowlby’s 44 thieves study but this has many issues:
- sample bias - only a specific group of troubled youths (not generalisable)
- retrospective data - can be unreliable due to memory biases and inaccuracies
- confounding variables - other factors such as socioeconomic status may have influenced outcomes

Question 12

how can robertson’s research be applied?

Answer 12

1) hospital policies - highlighted the importance of allowing parents to stay with their hospitalised children to reduce stress and anxiety
2) childcare practices - inform childcare practices by emphasizing the need for stable and consistent caregiving to support health emotional development
3) adoption and foster care - can imporve practices in adoption and foster care ensuring that children experience minimal disruption