Ethical issues + social implication of Bowlby (10)

• Confidentiality and privacy

  • P: Bowlby’s (1944) research raises significant ethical concerns, regarding confidentiality and informed consent

  • E: participants identities only partially anonymised, with first names and initials of surnames published alongside detailed case histories. details could allow others to identify their children and families. Furthermore, data were collected during psychiatric treatment between 1936-1939 but published years later, without clear evidence of consent from children or their families

  • E: ethical standards less established in 1940s, lack of transparency + consent would be considered unacceptable today, given sensitive nature of personal data involved. Using clinical info for research without clear, informed consent undermines trust in psychological practice

  • L: bowlby’s study breaches key ethics by failing to safeguard participant privacy + consent, raising concerns about responsibility
• Limited and potentially harmful social implications

  • P: social implications of Bowlby’s research have been influential and controversial, some unintended negative consequences

  • E: findings led to the development of maternal deprivation hypothesis and influenced post-war childcare practices and hospital visitation policies. However, contributed to mother-blaming narratives, suggests maternal absence causes delinquency, which can stigmatise women + oversimplify complex issues around child development

  • E: bowlby’s work brought attention to children’s emotional needs, lacked consideration of wider social contexts (poverty, family dynamics, parental roles). Narrow focus led to policies placed undue pressure on mothers and overlooked systemic factors

  • L: far-reaching societal impact, its limitations and ethical flaws mean it’s legacy is mixed and requires critical evaluation in modern standards
• Conclusion

  • bowlby‘s study was ethically flawed due to lack of consent and confidentiality, it’s social implications although influential, arguably one sided and contributed to problematic societal attitudes toward caregiving and maternal responsibility