Children need a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with their mother to ensure sustained normal mentalhealth
A mothers love durino childhood is as important for mentalhealth as vitamins and proteins are for physical health
Any seperation can have serious consequences
seperation vs deprivation
seperatjon is when the child is not in the presence of the primaryattachmentfigure
brief seperations are not significant for development especially if the child is left with a substitute
Extended separations can lead to deprivation
Critical period
seperation will have the deprivation effect if it happens before the age of 2.5 years and there is a risk up to age 5
deprived children will become emotionallydisturbed and long term psychological harm
Relationship with the monotropic theory
Bowlby said consequences of maternal deprivationcannot be reversed - relates to IWM
Leads to lowIQ (Bowlby described as retardation) And affectionless psychopathy
44juvenile thieves - aim
To investigate the long term effects of maternal deprivation on people in order to see whether delinquents have suffered deprivation
44juvenile thieves - procedure
Interviewed 44children who were referred to a childprotectionprogram in London due to stealing
Another group of 44children acted as controls - they had been referred for psychologicalproblems but had not yet committed crimes
They interviewed parents to consider whether the children had been maternally deprived
44 juvenilethieves - findings & conclusion
findings - some of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths, they lacked normal signs of affection, shame and responsibility - enables stealing
86% of affection less thieves experienced frequent seperation compared to 17% other thieves and 2% non thieves
Conclusion - earlyseparations are linked to affectionlesspsychopathy. Those with such mentaldisorders show little concern for others and are unable to form relationships