maternal deprivation

• who came up with the theory of maternal deprivation

  bowlby
• what is the theory of maternal deprivation

  the proposal that prolonged emotional deprivation would have long term consequences in terms of emotional development
• what are the 3 main strands to the theory

  the value of maternal care

  critical period

  long term consquences
• what is the value of maternal care in bowlbys theory of maternal dep

  it is not enough to ensure the child is just fed and warm but they needed a continuous intimate relationship with a mother or mother subsitute
• what is critical period in bowlbys theory of maternal dep

  young children who are deprived of needed care may become emotionally disturbed but it will only happen if

  
  

  - the separation occurs before the age of 2 1/2 years

  - there is no permenant substitute mother available
• what are long term consequences in bowlbys theory of maternal dep

  - emotional malajustment (B referred to this as affectionless psychopathy)

  - mental health problems

  - problems with intellectual development

  - problems with later social relationships (internal working model)
• what is affectionless psychopathy


  characterized by the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards others (being empathetic)

  is associated with criminality
• what was the theory of maternal deprivation based on

  the 44 thieves study
• procedure of the 44 thieves study


  bowlby studied 44 children referred to his child guidance clinic for stealing

  - some of the children were affectionless psychopaths

  - he interviewed their families and built up a record of their early life

  
  

  44 other children were a control group, they had been referred for emotional problems but not committed crimes
• findings of the 44 thieves study

  14 out of 44 (32%) of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths

  - 0 of the control group were

  
  

  12 out of the 14 (86%) had experienced separation from their mothers for at least a week before the age of 5, the same was true for only 17% of the thieves without affectionless psychopathy
• conclusion of the 44 thieves study

  emotional malajustment was associated with young children being separated early in life with their mother

  
  

  + the deprivation/separation may cause

  - inability to form future relationships

  - emotional distubance (malajustment)

  - retarded intellectual growth
• negative evaluation of bowlbys 44 thieves

  retrospective data:

  - the data was collected retrospectively and so many memories may not be reliable depending on the participant

  
  

  experimenter bias:

  - bowlby carried out the diagnoses himself so his judgement may have been influenced by his expectations
• study which supports bowlbys theory

  goldfarb
• what did goldfarb study

  30 teens

  half were fostered before 12 months

  half spent 3 and a half years in orphanages before being fostered

  
  

  both groups = tested up to the age of 12

  
  

  those who spent longer in the institution did less well on tests of intelligence, independence, self control, language + were more likely to be aggressive and emotionally insecure
• study which goes against bowlbys theory

  lewis
• what did lewis study

  he did a partial replication of bowlbys 44 thieves study
• lewis' study


  -used a larger sample of 500 young people

  
  

  - found that a history of prolonged separation did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships
• what does lewis' study suggest

  that prolonged separation may not cause criminality or emo problems and that they might be influenced by other factors eg poverty/housing or another social factor
• what did rutter find

  found evidence to suggest that the reason for disruption of attachment played a part and determined if there would be negative effects
• how did rutter investigate the reason for disruption to attachment

  -group of boys aged 9-12

  - all boys had experienced disruption of attachment

  - 2 groups

  
  

  group 1:

  - disruption involved death of mother

  
  

  group 2:

  - disruption for another reason eg divorce or mental health issues
• results of rutters investigation into the reason for disruption to attachment

  the boys whos mother had died showed far less anti-social behaviour than the other group

  - suggests that the negative effects of disruption partly depend on the reason that the disruption occured
• whats the difference between deprivation and privation

  deprivation:

  - a bond is developed but disrupted or lost

  - less likely to result in long term emotional development problems

  
  

  privation:

  - bond fails to develop

  - results in long term emotional development problems
• what did rutter claim about deprivation/privation (also eval point for bowlby)

  that bowlby didnt specify if a childs attachment had been broken (D) or never even been formed (P).

  
  

  rutter believed that the lack of forming a maternal bond has far more significant consequences than deprivation

  
  

  the lack of clarity in bowlbys study may reduce validity of his findings
• positive evaluation for bowlbys study

  real world application

  - in the past, children were separated from parents when they spent time in hospital, visiting was discouraged or forbidden

  - led to social change in the way that children were cared for in hospitals

  
  

  other studies also do seem to support bowlbys idea that deprivation can lead to long term effects

  - bifulco et al

  - this supports the idea that maternal deprivation leads to vunerability to negative outcomes later in life

  - also supports bowlbys notion of a critical period
• bifulco et al's study


  studied women who experience separation from mothers at an early age

  - due to maternal dealth or temp sepatation for 1year+

  - found that 25% later experienced depression or anxiety compared to 15% control group

  - effects were much greater when separation happened before the child was 6
• negative evaluation for bowlbys study

  rutter argued that his view was to simplistic

  - privation/deprivation

  
  

  individual differences

  - barrett reviewed studies on separation and found that securely attached children sometimes cope well whereas insecurely attached children become very distressed

  - suggests that the effects of maternal deprivation are not experienced in the same way and effect children differently