Part 3 - effects

• how does the monotropic theory define healthy attachments

  argues that healthy development is dependent on attachments formed between infant and primary caregiver (mother)
• what does the maternal deprivation hypothesis explain

  explains what happens when infants are deprived of their monotropic attachment
• for short term deprivation, what is the sequence of the child's response to separation

  1. protest - child is upset/confused and cries a lot

  2. despair - becomes withdrawn, feels hopeless so cries less

  3. detachment - child appears recovered but has little pleasure
• what are the consequences of short term deprivation


  most will recover, but there are individual differences:

  intelligence, more stable children cope better than those from difficult family environments
• what does long term deprivation cause

  - serious and long term damage to a child's emotional, social and intellectual development

  - especially if this deprivation occurs during the critical period
• what are the 2 types of consequences to maternal deprivation

  - poor intellectual development: could suffer 'retardation'

  - poor emotional development: can lead to affectionless psychopathy
• what are the characteristics of an affectionless psychopath

  the inability to feel guilt or strong emotions for others
• what is the study called on maternal deprivation

  Bowlby 44 thieves study
• what were the procedures for this study

  44 teenagers accused of stealing were interviewed and childhoods were examined for separation from mother - compared to a control group
• what were the findings from this study

  14/44 were affectionless psychopaths

  12 had experienced prolonged separation

  only 2 controls had experienced separation
• what do the findings support

  that prolonged separation can cause affectionless psychopaths because those that had the disorder had more separations than the controls
• what is an issue that Bowlby carried out

  - lack of objectivity: he knew what he wanted to find, so may not be accurate and lack validity
• the study was retrospective - why is this an issue

  - don't know how accurate that memory was, especially if there was multiple separations so it won't be specific
• what is another issue with the results

  - lack temporal validity:

  in 1944 = 92% of crime was theft out of necessity - WW2 affected teenage childhoods and increased separation

  The time period is very different from today
• describe another research study into maternal deprivation (IQ)

  followed 30 orphans aged up to 12 years, half were fostered by 4 months, half remained in the orphanage, at 12 their IQ was measured:

  fostered group = 96 IQ average

  orphanage group = 68 (normal = 100)

  This supports that deprivation can cause poor intellectual development because those children that were deprived had lower IQ than the controls
• describe the other research study into maternal deprivation (replication of 44 thieves)

  replicated the 44 thieves study with 500 young people, early prolonged separation didn't predict criminality or difficulty forming relationships

  This contradicts the social/emotional effects of maternal deprivation because the prolonged separation didn't seem to be linked with difficulties in later life (criminality)
• what are the 2 case studies into deprivation

  Genie

  the Czech Twins
• how can Genie's case study support Bowlby's theory

  the isolation and lack of attachment caused irreversible long term damage and she would be considered as having 'retardation' as her IQ is extremely low due to the loss of the mother bond
• how does the Czech twins contradict the theory

  despite their deprivation of attachment after care they were able to recover and have normal levels of functioning, even intellectually despite previous learning difficulties
• what does the Czech twins study suggest about the critical period

  they were discovered at 7 years old, a long time after the supposed critical period and despite lack of attachment from birth, after care they were functioning fine
• what are the differences between the Czech twins and Genie

  - Czech twins were rescued and looked after well

  - Genie was further abused through foster homes (physically and mentally deteriorated

  - twins were found far younger (7) than Genie (13)

  - twins had each other, Genie was alone
• what are the strengths and weaknesses of using case studies

  + only way you can study deprivation as you can't create the situation

  - single, unique cases - hard to draw definitive conclusions
• what is a strength of Bowlby's research

  + practical applications:

  it lead to lots of changes, such as how children are cared ofr in hospitals
• what are 3 weaknesses of his theory

  - correlations:

  between early separation and long term effects (Bowlby 44 thieves) It's difficult to explain the cause of adult issues are due to childhood deprivation: there would be many intervening variables to explain the link

  - socially sensitive:

  implies a mother shouldn't leave her child, the government used the theory to pressure mothers to stay with their infants and not return to work - if they work they are risking damage

  - research has criticized aspects (irreversible effects of deprivation) as some children recover - Czech Twins

  The consequences of deprivation aren't apparent in all children so there must be individual differences to explain this
• what is the name for the lack of an attachment bond

  privation

  more serious than the loss of one (deprivation)
• where a child is separated from their primary caregiver and there is a disruption of the emotional bond formed between the pair. It can happen due to hospitalisation or divorce

  define deprivation
• where the child is physically seperated from its primary caregiver; there may not be any deprivation or emotional bond disruption.


  define separation
• an establishment dedicated to a particular task. often following strict regimes, with lack of emotional care given

  define institutional care
• Romanian Orphans


  give an example of institutional care
• former dictator of the country required women to have 5 babies, most couldn't afford to keep so many were sent to poor quality orphanages with lack of food, toys and care.

  what happened in Romania?
• where the child adopts the rules and norms of the institiution and can impair functioning. it often leads to loss of personal identiy (deindividuation)

  define institutionalisation
• - physical

  - intellectual underfunctioning

  - disinhibited attachment

  - poor parenting


  what are the 4 effects of institutionalisation?
• children in institutional care are often physically smaller so poor nourishment can cause deprivation dwarfism. Also can be deformed due to living in confined spaces and lack of excersises.


  what are the physical effects of institutionalisation?
• often score poorer on tests of cognitive abilities (IQ)

  what are the intellectual underfucntioning effects of institutionalisation?
• form of insecure attachment- children treat near strangers with inappropraite familiarity and are attention seeking


  what are the disinhibted attachment effects of institutionalisation?
• lack of secure attachments due to deprivation or privation can cause the infants to go on to be poor parents themselves


  what are the effects of institutionalisation on parenting?
• Rutter (2011)


  who conducted the romanian orphan study?
• random sample of 165 romanian children, most spent early life in institutions ranging from poor to abysmal were adopted by UK families before age 3 and a half. examines extent to which children could recover when introduced to safe family enviro. Romanian children studied at 4,6,11 and 15. 52 adopted children not from orpahns were studied as a control group.


  what were the procedures of rutters study?
• - children improved of several years, especially if adopted before 6 months, they could be normal by 4

  - at 11, IQ of children adopted before 6months was 102, whereas 6-24 months was 86 and those after 2 years was 77

  -children with very low language skills had higher IQ's than those with no language

  -children after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment (clingy, overly friendly etc)

  - 1/3 of children after 6 months experienced problems that warrented intervention of proffesional educational, psychological or psychiatric services

  what were the findings of Rutters study?
• - negative effects of institutionalisation can be overcome by sensitive, nuturing care.

  - compared to british adopted children, only romanian orpahns suffered developmental effects

  - suggests it was condition of institutions and not separation of parents that caused negative effects.


  what were the conclusions of the Rutters study?