Deprivation: Bowlbys MDH

• deprivation refers to more long term separations such as months or years. deprivation involves going without their main attachment. this is thought to potentially lead to long term damage
• before Bowlby proposed his explanation of attachment, he proposed this theory
• Bowlby beleived that if an infant was unable to develop a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with his mother or caregiver, then the child would have difficulty forming relationships with other people and be at risk of behavioural disorders. he believed that if children experience repeated separations before the age of 2.5 years old, they are likely to become emotionally disturbed. he felt that this risk of disturbance possibly continued up to the age of 5 years old. after this age, children are better able to cope with separation
• what similarities are there between bowlbys explanation of attachment and his MDH?

  -> both had a critical period

  -> both thought the child would be disturbed without mother / attachment
• what are the differences between Bowlbys explanation of attachment and Bowlbys MDH?

  -> more detail in second theory

  -> no internal working model in the MDH

  -> no continuity hypothesis

  -> isn't said that its innate or adaptive in MDH

  -> didnt mention a sensitive period in MDH
• what was the aim of Bowlbys 44 thieves study


  to test the MDH theory in particular affectionless psychopathy. Bowlby described this as those who lacked remorse
• what sample did bowlby study

  -> 88 children who were 5 - 16 years old

  -> these children were at a child guidance clinic

  -> 16 of these children were affectionless psychopaths and thieves

  -> 28 were just thieves

  -> 44 were maladjusted but not thieves and not affectionless psychopaths
• what method did Bowlby use in his 44 thieves study

  interviewed children and families
• what did Bowlby find?

  -> affectionless psychopaths - 86 % experienced early separation from their mother

  -> thieves - 17 % experienced early separation

  -> maladjusted group - 4 % had experienced early separation
• what did Bowlby conclude?

  suggest a link between early separations and later social maladjustment. maternal deprivation --> affectionless psychopaths

  less severe --> theft
• what negative affects of maternal deprivation

  -> delinquency

  -> reduced intelligence

  -> increased aggression

  -> depression

  -> affectionless psychopathy
• evaluation of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis

  + tells mothers how to test raise their child

  + research to support this

  + told hospitals etc how to minimise separation

  + substitute caregivers can be put in place
• evaluation of bowlbys maternal deprivation hypothesis

  -> outdated theory

  -> reductionist - other factors that could cause long term issues

  -> ignores the role of fathers --> societal changes

  -> it puts pressures on women to not leave their child alone for 5 years, which enforces outdated expectations

  -> it blames parents for long term damage

  -> Bowlbys research used a small sample ---> not representative

  -> Theory lacks detail, also its been found that attachments form within 6 months
• Rodgers and Pryor

  children experiencing two or more divorces how the lowest adjustment rates and the most behavioural problems, suggesting that continual broken attachments increases the chances of negative outcomes for children supporting Bowlby's MDH
• Schaffer

  he found that nearly all cchildren are negatively affected by divorce in the long term. however, research by hetherington and Hagen found that only 25% experienced long term damages
• Bowllbys maternal deprivation hypothesis had an enormous impact on the way we treat children. hospitals now encourage parents to stay overnight with children and authorties try to foster children now rather than keep them in childrens homes
• Demo and Ancock 


  found that children vary widely in reacting to divorce, some develop better attachments after. suggests divorce doesn't always have a negative impact
• Rutter [Isle of White]

  interviewed over 2000 boys on the isle of white and found delinquency was most common in cases where boys had experienced separations due to unsettled situations and problems in their families. therefore, rutter suggested that it is family discord, rather than separation that causes delinquency and emtotional maladjustment
• Bowlby studied children who had been hospitalised under age 4, because of tuberculosis. nursing was strict with little personal care. many children were visited weekly by their families. psychologists assessed them when they were age 7 and 14, children who had not been hospitalised in terms of delinquency or problems forming social relationships.
• most studies are of children in institutions. they tend to be deprived in many ways not just maternally
• Bowlby's MDH was formulated in the 1950s. he later went on to formulate his more positive and detailed attachment theory, which foxuses on the benefits of forming attachments rather than the consequences of deprivation
• evaluate MDH

  + it seems logical that long term separation has a greater negative effect upon childrens development than short term separation, and research supports this
• Richards


  found that attachment disruption through divorce leads to resentment and stress while death leads to depression and delinquency. this suggests that separation through different causes produces different outcomes, and goes against bowlbys MDH by proving it to be reductionist
• evaluate bowlbys MDH

  bowlby did not distinguish between different kinds of deprivation. children can have formed emotional bonds and then be deprived of a caregivers presence, or they could suffer privation and never ha,ve formed attachments in the place. perhaps it is privation that has permanent and irreversible effects rather than deprivation
• rutter [at risk families]


  he believed that some families were more at risk, due to poor housing, or unsettled personal relationships. these may lead to both early separation and later maladjustment may be linked. one does not necessarily cause the other
• evaluate bowlbys mdh

  research allowed psychologists to create strategies to help children cope with divorce and parents how to avoid disruption to attachments, in some american states its a legal requirement
• spitz and wolf

  studied 100 apparently normal children who became seriously depressed after staying in hospital. the children generally recovered well if the separation lasted less than 3 months. longer separations were rarely associated with complete recovery