Maternal deprivation

• Bowlby stated a warm, loving home with a permanent caregiver was essential for development

  "mother love for children is as important for mental health as vitamins and proteins for physical health"

  Before Bowlby, nobody has considered the important effects separation had on infants, it was thought only physical care was important for development - Bowlby demonstrated the importance of maternal care.
• If separation happens frequently without a sustainable substitute up to the age of 2.5 the child will be emotionally disturbed, this is a continued risk up to the age of 5.

  • It is not separation but deprivation which causes long-term impacts as if a sustainable substitute to the mother (separation) is found the infant may not be damaged.
  • Deprivation leads to emotional maladjustment and mental health problems such as depression
• Procedure"Bowlby's 44 thieves"

  1. Bowlby (1944) analysed the case histories of a number of his patients in the Child Guidance Clinic in London where he worked

  2. All the children attending the clinic were emotionally maladjusted

  3. He studied 88 of these children-half had been caught stealing (the 44 'thieves) and the other half were a control group
• Affectionless psychopaths


  • Lacked normal signs of affection, shame or sense of responsibility
  • Enabled them to be 'thieves' as it didn't matter to them
• Early separations

  • Linked to affectionless psychopathy
  • Lack of continuous care may well cause emotional maladjustment or even mental disorders
• Bowlby (1944) found that 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths
• Of the 14 affectionless psychopaths, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the 1st two years of their lives
• Of the remaining 30 'thieves', only 5 had experienced separations
• Of the control group, only 2 out of 44 had experienced long separations
• It was concluded that prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy
• A03

  Physical & emotional separation


  When talking about separation, people often believe it's physical separation but it is often emotional separation.

  • A mother with depression may be physically present but cannot provide suitable care, depriving the infant
  • Radkey-Arrow et Al studied severely depressed mothers and found 55% of children were insecurely attached, compared with 29% in the control group.

  Emotional separation can also lead to deprivation, showing the importance of research
• AO3

  Support of the critical period

  Bifucio et Al studied women who had suffered from early separations from their mothers by death or a temporary year separation.

  • 25% of these women later experienced depression or anxiety compared to only 15% with women who hadn't been separated.
  • Mental health problems were much greater with those who had experiences separations in the critical period.

  This supports the idea of the critical period, early deprivation during this period can lead to mental disorders
• AO3

  Real world application

  Bowlby's research has had a large impact on the way children are looked after in hospitals.

  • Before Bowlby's research, if a child was in hospital they way separated from their parents who were discouraged or forbidden to visit their children.
  • Bowlby's colleague showed how young children felt extremely distressed and anxious when separated from their parents

  This led to major social change in the way children were cared for in hospital, showing importance of Bowlby's research
• AO3

  Individual differences

  Not all children are affected by emotional disruption in the same way

  Barret reviewed studies on maternal separation and found securely attached children could cope reasonably well during separation, whereas, insecurely attached children became extremely distressed.

  This suggests children who cope better when separated are more securely attached when separated, showing individual differences must be considered when examining separation.
• AO3

  Deprivation VS Privatation

  Rutter criticises Bowlby's work in his book.

  • He claims Bowlby did not make it clear whether the child's attachment had been formed and then broken, or never formed in the first place.
  • Rutter believed a lack of attachment rather than a loss of an attachment would have more severe consequences for the child.
  • He concluded that "privatation" should be used for children who developed no bonds and "deprivation" for children who develop then lose bonds

  Bowlby's research lacks clarity, reducing the validity of his work