long term separation from a primary caregiver can have long term consequences such as affectionless psychopathy - these individuals are more likely to show offending behaviour
affectionless psychopathy
characterised by a lack of guilt, empathy or strong emotions for others, and responsibility
monotropic relationship
relationship with one primary caregiver
Bowlby - 44 juvenile thieves
44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
their family was also interviewed to see if there was deprivation from their mother
14 out of the 44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths, 12 of which experienced maternal deprivation
positive evaluation of maternal deprivation theory
considers multiple factors such as family life and childhood experiences
applications - guidance for how we should treat children in order to prevent them from developing criminality
negative evaluations of maternal deprivation theory
not supported by research - Lewis (1954) found that maternaldeprivation is a poor predictor of future offending
gender bias - Freud believed women developed weaker superegos than men, implying women should be more likely to commit crime, however most convicted criminals are men
