AO3 - Critical Period

• Bowlby’s theory also has negative implications for working mothers.
• Bowlby's study of the 44 thieves supports his idea of a critical period.
• Bowlby (1944) studied 44 thieves and found a greater proportion suffered a break in the maternal bond during the critical period.
• Much of the supporting evidence on the critical period is by Bowlby himself, which is subjective.
• The research on the critical period was conducted in the 1950's and 60's when gender roles were different, so may lack temporal validity.
• Bowlby linked the critical period to his later idea called the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis.