bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

• argues if the childs monotropic attachment is disrupted during the critical period, such as prolonged separation from the mother, this deprivation will result in irreversible and negative consequences, affecting the infants social, emotional and intellectual skills.
• the critical period of a human is an infants first two and a half years with a risk up to five.
• first consequence of deprivation ?

  delinquency: due to disrupted social development, behaviour is often outside social norms, such as petty crime.
• second consequence of deprivation ?

  affectionless psychopathy: due to disrupted emotional development children are unable to show caring behaviour or empathy towards others for peoples feeling and have little guilt for their harmful actions
• third consequence of deprivation ?

  low iq: due to disrupted intellectual development, cognitive abilities are lower than peers.
• as the monotropic relationship with the mother is the first and most important relationship the infant has, it forms a schema for future relationships called an internal working model. The continuity hypothesis suggests deprivation caused by prolonged separations from the mother limits the ability of the infant to form an effective internal working model, leading to unsuccessful childhood and adult relationships and issues with their parenting skills.
• supporting a03 for theory ?

  fourty four thieves study, 44 child thieves and a control group of 44 emotionally disturbed non-thieves were interviewed to assess affectionless psychopathy and parents were asked about maternal deprivation during the critical period. It was found 14 thieves matched the criteria for affectionless psychopathy compared to none of the control group. 12 of the thieves had experienced prolonged separation compared to only two of the control group. This suggest a link between maternal deprivation and delinquency.
• a03 criticism?

  research supporting maternal deprivation including the 44 thieves study is correlational, deprivation and delinquency could be linked to a third factor.Children who experience deprivation may also experience extreme poverty, have contact with criminal relatives that act as role models or have a family history of mental health problems
• ao3 supporting?

  bowlbys work on attachment led to significant positive changes related to child polices related to child welfare, such as visiting time for mothers in hospitals, the ratios of carers and infants at nursery school and the length of maternity leave. While its improved child welfare its also impacted the economy as nursery places are now more expensive. social sensitivity should also be considered as the focus on maternity rather paternity leave may have resulted in an increase of the pay gap with women missing opportunities for development and promotion.
• a03 criticism?

  monotropy may exaggerate the role of the mother as a primary caregiver. This focus on the mother may be gender biased, underestimating the role of the father and other attachment figures. Schaffers work shows children quickly move on from one specific attachment with 87% of infants having multiple attachments at 18 months. Other research indicates important roles for the father in early attachment, such as encouraging risk taking, developing socialisation and even taking on the sensitive response role when acting as the primary caregiver
• a03 criticism ?

  bowlby argues for a critical period and irreversible damage due to deprivation, however the findings of orphan studies suggests children have a sensitive, not critical period. Butter, Hodges and Tizard, all showed that while deprivation can have damaging and long term effects, with suitable care many of these effcts can be reversed.
• what is institutionalisation ?

  when children are cared for by the state
• extended stays in institutions such as childrens homes and hospitals are thought to alter behaviour, such as the adoption of the rules and norms of the institution. As institutions are unable to provide the same level of physical and emotional care to young children as families, institutionalisation is thought to influence childhood development negatively.
• Deprivation vs privation ?

  deprivation is not receiving suitable emotional care from a primary attachment figure this can happen with frequent or extended absences with caregiver. Privation is total lack of care so there is no ability to form an attachment bond
• Romanian orphan studies on effects of institutional privation?

  fall of romanian government in 1990 led to the discovery of an estimated 170,000 abandoned children living in privation in orphanages, lacked physical and emotional care from staff and were malnourished and abused, many of these babies were adopted into loving western families and researchers conducted a natural experiment. Rutter ERA conducted a longitudinal study of 165 romanian orphans that were adopted into british families
• Rutter procedure ?


  romanian children grouped into three groups: adopted under six months, adopted between 6 months and two years and those adopted older than two years. A control group of British adoptees who had not experienced privation were included in the study. Each groups progress were assessed at the ages of 4, 6, 11 and 15.
• Rutter findings age six ?

  
  

  At age 6, children adopted at six months showed disinhibited attachment, an overly friendly behaviour to strange adults. Disinhibited attachment at age six was more common in children adopted after two years old.
• Rutter findings age 11 ?

  
  

  At age 11, over half the children who displayed disinhibited attachment at age six still displayed this behaviour.Children adopted after six months also showed significant delayed physical, emotional and intellectual development. Children adopted after 24 months had an average iq of 77 compared to 102 for those adopted under six months. In a small number of cases, quasi-autism tendencies were identified, with children having problems understanding the meaning of social contexts.
• Rutter findings age 15?

  
  

  Intellectual problems continued at the 15 year follow up.
• Rutter conclusion?

  research suggests that adoption within the first six months is important as the rate of recovery depends on age at adoption, and the effects of privation in institutions are severe and long-lasting; however, many children even adopted after two years show recovery suggesting the critical period argued by bowlby is actually a sensitive period
• supporting evidence for romanian orphan studies ?

  practical applications as a result of romanian orphan studies. research has changed policies around adoption and care in orphanages and other institutional settings. For example, critical workers in institutions give a higher level of care to infants; there is a focus on ensuring an early age of adoption and adoptive families are carefully screened.
• criticism of romanian adoption studies ?

  potential issue with Rutters ERA study and other research on romanian orphans is the children were not randomly assigned for adoption but were selected by the new parents in Romania, its possible this resulted in a bias with the more sociable children being picked for adoption
• romanian orphan study support?

  research studies have helped support and challenge pre-existing theories. This issues Romanian orphans adopted at a later age with social development suggests the first few months are vital for forming an internal working model. However, this research challenges the idea of a critical period in childhood, Bowlby argues that if children miss this window for development the harm is permanent. However, the data showing recovery suggests a sensitive period, the damaged caused, while severe can be adressed with later care
• Hodges and Tizard found that children adopted into new caring families coped better on measures of behavioural and peer relationships than children returned to their original abusive families.
• Goldfarbs study compared 15 children that had been brought up in children homes until beyond 3, and another group fostered at around 6 months.
• Goldfarbs study found that early fostering led to significantly higher IQ and social skills.
• Goldfarbs study suggests the adverse affects of institutionalisation can be overcome with adequate and substitute care.