Bowlby research

• (M) What did Bowlby investigate?

  The relationship between disrupted childhood development and juvenile thieves (maternal deprivation)
• (M) What research method did Bowlby use?

  Case studies:

  • Interviews
  • Secondary data (medical + school reports)
• (M) Who were the research participants?

  44 children (31 boys & 13 girls):

  • Attended the London Child Guidance Clinic (LCGC)
  • Described as 'thieves'
  • Many were too young to be charged in court
  • Aged between 5 and 17
• (M) What were the 5 grades of participants?

  • Grade I (one theft): consisted of 3 children
  • Grade II (a few thefts): consisted of 8 children
  • Grade III (persistent but irregular mild pilfering over a long period): consisted of 10 children
  • Grade IV (chronic and serious thieving for lengthy periods): consisted of 23 children
• (M) What were the ways that the children were distributed?

  • Grades
  • Age
  • Intelligence
  • Character type
• (M) What were the character types?

  • Emotionally normal
  • Depressed
  • Circular
  • Hyperthymic
  • Affectionless
  • Schizoid & Schizophrenic
• (M) What were the IQ scores like in the sample of thieves?

  • The majority of thieves were considered to have average intelligence with 23 having an IQ score between 85-114
  • 2 participants had a score of lower than 85
  • 15 participants scored higher than 114
• (M) Who were the control group?

  • 44 children
  • Matched on gender, age and IQ
  • 34 boys, 10 girls
  • Were considered emotionally disturbed, but did not steal
• (M) Was Bowlby's study matched pairs?

  No- it isn't an experiment
• (M/P) How were the mothers of the children involved?

  Mothers of all 88 children involved were interview to provide a case history of the children's lives
• (M) What sample was used to obtain the children?

  Opportunity sample
• (P) What happened when the children first arrived at the clinic?

  • Initial examination was given to each child on arrival to the clinic
  • Stanford-Biret test used to assess their intelligence
• (P) What was the role of the psychologist?

  • Gave children IQ test
  • Noted the child's emotional attitude
  • Reported findings to Bowlby
• (P) What was the role of the social worker?

  • Interviewed the mothers & recorded detail of their child's early psychiatric history
  • Reported to Bowlby
  • Met up with the children's mothers for 6 months or more during the study to talk over their issues
• (P) What was the role of the psychiatrist?

  • Interviewed the child and mother
  • For a period of 6 months or more during the study, the psychiatrist met up weekly with the child
• (F) Why did Bowlby distinguish between character types?

  To determine what previous factors might have caused the children to steal
• (F) What were 'affectionless' thieves?

  Children characterized by lack of normal affection, shame or sense of responsibility
• (F) What did Bowlby discover about 'affectionless' thieves?

  • They appeared to show a pattern in relation to delinquency
  • 14 of the 44 thieves were 'affectionless'
  • Had a lack of affection or warmth of feeling for anyone
• (F) What behaviours do affectionless thieves show?

  • The children, since infancy, had been 'solitary, undemonstrative and unresponsive'
  • Responsive to neither kindness nor punishment
• (F) What kind of relationships did 'affectionless' thieves make with others?

  • The majority went out and stole alone
  • Some were members of a gang --> however, they has no emotional ties with these other children
• (F) How did the 'affectionless' thieves differ?

  • Some were unsociable and apathetic
  • A large number were energetic and active
  • Many of the more active children were aggressive and bullying
• (F) How/what did Charles K steal?

  • Money and food from home for at least 5 years before being referred
  • Sometimes useless things, such as a tin of baking powder
• (F) What was Charles K's relationship with his mother?

  • Mother was often away at work --> his grandma looked after him and his brothers
  • Mother was nice; father was psychotic & violent
  • His brother had died when Charles was an infant --> mother was upset & emotionally neglected Charles whilst mourning
• (F) What was Charles K's personality like?

  • Quiet, reserved, unsociable --> made no friends
  • Showed no affection to either parent
  • Amenable & willing to help at home
  • Well-behaved at old school; truanted at old one due to bullying
• (F) How many children experienced frequent separation from their mothers?

  12 of the 14 affectionless children:

  • Derek B --> 9 months in hospital as an infant with no visit from either parent
  • Betty I --> spent time in foster homes from 9 months old

  5 out of 30 thieves in other personality categories

  2 in the control group
• (F) Describe home environments of the children with no frequent separation from their mothers?

  • Several children were unwanted
  • Anxious, unstable and nagging mothers were frequent
  • A few children had fathers who outright hated them
• (F) How many affectionless thieves were in Grade IV?

  13 out of 14
• (F) How many affectionless thieves were in the control group?

  0
• (C) What is a conclusion of Bowlby's study?

  Bowlby is doubtful a law-abiding affectionless character exists:

  • 'It is probably true to say that the affectionless character always steals and usually becomes a recidivist (reoffender)
• (C) What is a conclusion of Bowlby's study?

  The affectionless thieves have a 'remarkably distinctive early history- prolonged separations from their mothers or foster mothers'
• (C) What is a conclusion of Bowlby's study?

  Children who steal persistently are of an affectionless character, which has resulted from them having suffered prolonged separation from their mothers during childhood
• (C) What is a conclusion of Bowlby's study?

  • Bowlby concluded that the children would not have become offenders if they had not had experiences that were harmful to healthy development
  • Bowlby's findings supported the psychodynamic view that early experiences are vital in later development
• (C) What is a conclusion of Bowlby's study?

  • Bowlby proposed that damage to the emotional development would affect the development of the personality leading to reduced sense of what is right and wrong
  • This research places emphasis on psychoanalytical factors affecting the likelihood of juvenile delinquency
• (C) What is a conclusion of Bowlby's study?

  • Bowlby stated that there are many children over the age of 4 and 5 who are adaptable and do adjust to adverse circumstances
  • Unsatisfactory environments in early years are compatible with both social and anti-social behaviour, so the answer must lie in the character development in the first few years of life
  • It may well be adverse environment in early years that is responsible for the emotional disturbance and delinquent reaction of these children