A03

• What are the strengths of Bowlby‘s theory of Maternal Deprivation?

  1. Real-world application
  2. Abundance of supporting evidence
• What are the limitations of Bowlby’s theory of Maternal Deprivation?

  1. Deprivation vs. privation
  2. Physical and emotional separation
• Strength = real-world application

  • Bowlby’s theory has an enormous, positive impact on post-war thinking about childrearing and also on how children were looked after in hospitals
  • Before Bowlby’s research, children were separated from parents when they spent time in hospital
  • Visiting was discouraged or even forbidden
  • E.g. two-year old girl Laura, who was filmed in hospital for 8 days
  • She was frequently distressed and begged to go home
  • Bowlby’s work led to a major social change in the way that children were cared for in hospital
• Strength = an abundance of supporting evidence

  • There is a wide range of studies demonstrating the long-term effects of maternal deprivation on development
  • Goldfarb = effects on IQ
  • Bowlby’s 44 thieves = effects on emotional development
  • Animal studies = Harlow’s monkeys
  • HOWEVER - Hilda Lewis replicated the 44 Thieves study on 500 young teenagers
  • She found early prolonged separation did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships
  • This suggests that there may have been other factors which caused the problems instead
• Limitation = deprivation vs. privation

  • Michael Rutter (1981) criticised Bowlby’s view of deprivation, and claimed he was muddling two concepts together -> drew a distinction between deprivation and privation
  • Deprivation = loss of primary attachment figure after the attachment has developed
  • Privation = failure to form any attachment in the first place
  • Rutter believed that the severe long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is actually more likely to be the result of privation
  • This lack of clarity in Bowlby’s definition of deprivation may negatively affect the validity of research findings
• Limitation = physical and emotional separation

  • Focus on the impact of physical separation on development, but emotional separation may also have an effect
  • E.g. a mother who is depressed may be physically present, yet unable to provide suitable emotional care, thus depriving her children of that care
  • Radke-Yarow et al. (1985) = studied mothers who were severely depressed
  • 55% of their children were insecurely attached compared to only 29% in the non-depressed group