Maternal deprivation

• Bowlby's 44 thieves study- Aim

  To investigate the long-term effects of maternal deprivation on people to see whether delinquents have suffered deprivation. According to the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis, breaking the maternal bond with the child during their early life stages is likely to affect intellectual, social, and emotional development seriously.
• Bowlby's 44 thieves study- Procedure

  Opportunity sample of 88 children was selected from the clinic where Bowlby worked. 44 were juvenile thieves who had been referred to him because of their stealing. Bowlby selected another group of 44 children to act as controls. They had their IQ tested by a psychologist who assessed their emotional attitudes toward the test. The groups were matched for age and IQ. The children and their parents were interviewed about early life by Bowlby, a psychologist, and a social worker.  The psychiatrist, psychologist, and social worker made separate reports.
• Bowlby's 44 thieves study- Findings

  14 children from the thief group were identified as affectionless psychopaths; 12 had experienced prolonged separation of more than six months from their mothers in their first years. 5 of the children not classified as affectionless psychopaths had been separated. Out of the children in the control, two experienced separations, none were affectionless psychopaths. The results support the maternal deprivation hypothesis, the children diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had prolonged separation from their primary caregivers during the critical period.
• Bowlby's 44 thieves study- Conclusion

  Bowlby concluded that maternal deprivation in the child’s early life caused permanent emotional damage. He diagnosed this as a condition and called it Affectionless Psychopathy. According to Bowlby, this condition involves a lack of emotional development, characterized by a lack of concern for others, a lack of guilt, and an inability to form meaningful and lasting relationships.
• 44 thieves- Evaluation

  S-It is important to consider both emotional separation as well as physical separation.

  E- Marian Radke-Yarrow et al (1985) investigated mothers who were depressed and found that children with mean age of 32 months were 55% insecurity attached compared to 29% in a non-depressed group.

  EK- The findings in this study supports the hypothesis that emotional separation can also led to difficulties with mental health. Emotional detachment and deprivation from the parental figure can cause similar psychological effects as physical separation.
• 44 thieves- Evaluation

  S: A strength of maternal deprivation is that it has support for long-term effects. Experiencing early maternal deprivation creates a negative outcome.

  E: Bifulco et al (1992) studied women who had experienced separation from their mothers. About 25% experienced depression or anxiety compared with 15%. Women who experienced loss before the age of 6 had a greater mental health problems.

  K: Therefore Bowlby's theory has high population validity as the idea of the critical period suggests that early childhood deprivation can lead to later vulnerabilities
• 44 thieves- Evaluation

  S: A strength is that it has real world applications.

  E: Bowlby’s study and theory had a positive impact on ideas about child-rearing post-war and how children were looked after in hospitals.

  E: Prior to Bowlby’s research, children were separated from parents in hospitals – visiting was discouraged. One of Bowlby’s colleagues, Robertson (1952) filmed a 2-year-old girl during the 8 day period she stayed in hospital. She was distressed and begging to go home. Bowlby and Robertson’s work led to a major social change in the way children were cared for in hospital.