Bowlby's Theory of Maternal Deprivation

• Bowlby's Theory of Maternal Deprivation (MDH)


  Explains what happens when an attachment is broken between an infant and their mother or mother figure, known as the primary caregiver
• Bowlby (1953): 'Mother-love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health'
• Monotropy


  Infants form a single, unique attachment bond with their mother and Bowlby claimed this is needed for the healthy psychological development of infants
• Maternal deprivation


  The consequences, in terms of both emotional and intellectual development, caused by the separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute can be very serious and lead to many psychological and relationship issues in later life
• Separation


  When the child is not in the presence of the primary caregiver, brief separations and, especially when the child is with a substitute caregiver, do not have a significant impact on the Child's development
• Deprivation


  When the child is deprived of either their primary caregiver as a whole or elements of their emotional care, which leads to developmental issues with the child. They have had a primary caregiver but this has been interrupted, permanently
• Privation


  The infant never has a primary caregiver figure, and so never even gets close to forming an attachment
• Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation


  • Looks at how early experiences may interfere with the processes of attachment formation
  • Uses the term maternal deprivation for the long-term separation or loss of a mother
• Critical period


  If an attachment is disrupted or not formed with a mother figure (who provides adequate care) in the first 30 months of life (from birth) then it is too late and the child will possibly never form any attachments at all
• Affectionless psychopathy


  Lack any remorse for their actions, and as the condition is untreatable, it can have serious consequences for those around the sufferer
• Bowlby's Theory of Maternal Deprivation


  Research examining the links between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy
• Strengths


  • Bowlby's maternal deprivation research and research on attachment led to many policy changes around institutions and how they treated children
  • Improving child welfare and ensuring it remains a focus became a key part of the child welfare policies based on this research
  • Children in the hospital were allowed to have their PCG stay with them, whereas before they were only allowed in during visiting hours
  • There was also an increase in the ratio of childcare workers per child and children were also allocated a key worker/nurse who would be there for them during their hospital stay
  • Other research supports Bowlby and shows t the impact of maternal deprivation
• Limitations


  • Researcher bias, Bowlby himself carried out the interviews and research, which means he already knew what he was looking for from which teenagers
  • Bowlby used a lot of animal research to determine behaviour and then applied it to humans; however, humans have significant differences both biologically and psychologically, even compared to our closest evolutionary relatives, which shows that human behaviour cannot be explained by studying animals
  • Bowlby confuses early experiences of deprivation and privation
  • Most attempts to replicate Bowlby's study have failed to produce similar results
• Bowlby's Theory of Maternal Deprivation


  Research examining the links between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy
• Strengths

  • Bowlby's maternal deprivation research and research on attachment led to many policy changes around institutions and how they treated children
  • Improving child welfare and ensuring it remains a focus became a key part of the child welfare policies based on this research
  • Children in the hospital were allowed to have their PCG stay with them, whereas before they were only allowed in during visiting hours
  • There was also an increase in the ratio of childcare workers per child and children were also allocated a key worker/nurse who would be there for them during their hospital stay
  • Other research supports Bowlby and shows t the impact of maternal deprivation