Bowlbys maternal deprivation theory

• Bowlby’s research was based on the idea that attachment is an innate behavioural system
• What was Bowlby's general belief about maternal deprivation

  • Being separated from the mother in early childhood has severe consequences for emotional and intellectual development
• What is the difference between separation and deprivation

  separation: Not in the presence of primary attachment figure

  
  

  deprivation: Loss of an element of care/ prolonged separation
• What are the effects of maternal deprivation on intellectual development

  • Extended maternal deprivation during critical period will result in delayed intellectual development- low IQ
  • Adoption studies ( Goldfarb) found lower IQ in people who remained in institutions in comparison to people who were adopted
• What are the effects of maternal deprivation on emotional development

  • Affectionless psychopathy: the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions for others
  • Associated with criminality- inability to feel remorse/empathy for victims
• Describe Bowlby's 44 thieves study

  • consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing
  • all thieves were interviewed for affectionless psychopathy
  • families were also interviewed to establish whether thieves had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers
  • compared to a control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally disturbed young people
• Describe the findings of the 44 thieves experiment

  14/44 were described as affectionless psychopaths

  12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from their mother at a young age

  
  

  only 2/44 of the control group had experienced prolonged separation
• What conclusion did Bowlby draw from the 44 thieves study

  Prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy
• Describe a limitation of Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory

  Flawed evidence

  • As he carried out the interviews himself he was open to bias as he knew in advance which teenagers he expected to show affectionless psychopathy
  • Bowlby was also influenced by Goldfarb's study on development of children in wartime orphanages- had problems with confounding variables
  • This means Bowlby's evidence for maternal deprivation had serious flaws and wouldn't be taken seriously today
• Describe a counterpoint

  Research support ( maternal deprivation can have long-term effects)

  • Separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had permanent effects on their social development
• Describe a limitation of Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory

  Deprivation vs Privation

  • Rutter pointed out that the long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is more likely to be a result of privation ( failure to form any attachment in the first place)
  • Many of the children in the 44 thieves study had disrupted early lives and may have never formed strong attachments
  • Bowlby may have overestimated the seriousness of the effects of deprivation on a child's development
• Describe another limitation

  Critical versus sensitive periods

  • Bowlby believed damage was inevitable if a child didn't form an attachment before 2 years
  • Yet the Czech twins (who experienced severe physical and emotional abuse from the age of 18 months to the age of 7 years old) were able to recover fully after excellent care
  • This shows lasting harm isn't inevitable even in cases of severe privation- critical period is more of a sensitive period