maternal deprivation

• what is the maternal deprivation hypothesis?

  the loss of an existing attachment bond due to seperation from primary attachment figure which results in permanent and irreversible social, emotional and intellectual damage as once broken the bond can the repaired
• what is affectionless psychopathy?

  • emotional maladjustment due to a lack of emotional development as a result od deprivation
  • permanent dysfunction which manifests itself as a lack of concern for others and inability too form meaningful and lasting relationships
• what is the critical period

  • Bowlby
  • 0-3 years
  • critical to form attachments for psychological development
  • if a child is separated from their mother during the critical period, their deprivation in the critical period would lead to psychological harm
• intellectual development

  • bowlby believed deprivation during the critical period could lead to mental retardation
  • GOLDFARB (1947) studied 30 children over 12 years old and found lower IQ in orphaned children compared to the other who were fostered as they received a higher standard of emotional care
• emotional development - critical period

  • Bowlby argued people are more likely to show affection less psychopathy (not able to feel guilt for others)
  • they would then have difficulty forming normal relationships and be more likely to become criminals
  • less likely to show remorse or appreciate feelings of victims
• Bowlby criticism

  • RUTTER (1972) wrote a book called maternal deprivation re-assessed
  • suggested Bowlby may have over simplified the concept of maternal deprivation as he referred to it as being the separation from an attachment figure, loss of an attached figure and failure to develop an attachment
  • rutter argues these each have different effects (there's a particular difference between privation and deprivation)
• what does Rutter say privation is

  • if a child fails to develop an emotional bond
• what does rutter say deprivation is

  the loss or damage of an existing attachment
• Bowlby 44 thieves aim 


  AIM: examine links between affection less psychopathy and maternal deprivation
• Bowlby 44 thieves procedure 


  PROCEDURE: sample of 44 delinquents (accused of stealing)

  • they were interviewed for signs of affection less psychopathy
  • their families were also interviewed to establish if there was prolonged early separation from their mothers
  • a control group of 44 non- criminal teens with emotional problems were assessed
• Bowlby 44 thieves results

  • 14 out of 44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths
  • 12 also experienced prolonged separation in the first 2 years of life
  • in control group, 2 out of 44 had maternal separation but 0 were affection less psychopaths
• Bowlby 44 thieves conclusion

  • affection less psychopaths show little concern for others and are unable to form relationships
  • the reason for anti - social behaviour and emotional problems was due to maternal deprivation
• Bowlby 44 thieves strengths

  • supporting evidence - clinical interviews
• Bowlby 44 thieves limitations

  • in the clinical interviews, Bowlby asked the participants to look back and recall separations and these memories may not be accurate
  • he also designed and conducted the experiment himself which may have led to experimenter bias