maternal deprivation

• • for an infant to have a healthy psychological development, there needs to be a continuous relationship between the mother and infant.
  • if children experience maternal deprivation in the critical period, they will have a negative internal working model about attachment. They can also start to see themselves as unworthy.
• Critical period: first 2.5 years of someones life.
• Effects of maternal deprivation on development:

  • delayed intellectual development. Goldfarb (1947): children in care have lower IQs than those out of care. (Children in care are maternally deprived.)
  • delayed emotional development: people who experience maternal deprivation are more likely to have affectionless psychopathy.
• Affectionless psychopathy:

  • lack affection
  • lack guilt
  • lack empathy
  • do not have strong emotions towards other people
• 44 thieves study - Bowlby:

  • looked at maternal deprivation & affectionless psychopathy
  • sample: 44 teenage thieves
  • interviewed all teens to see if they had affectionless psychopathy; interviewed family members to see if ppts had been maternally deprived
  • 14/44 = affectionless psychopathy
  • 12/44 = maternal deprivation in the critical period
  • there is a link between maternal deprivation, affectionless psychopathy and criminality
• AO3:

  • research support: 44 thieves study. Link between MD & AP. Validates the theory.
  • overestimated the effects of maternal deprivation. Rutter (1981): Bowlby did not state the difference between deprivation & privation. Effects seen might be due to privation. Decreases validity of the theory.
  • social sensitivity. Does not account for same-sex families, some infants may not be in the presence of a mother. Theory can cause people (psychological) harm.
• • deprivation: when a bond has been created but is then broken
  • separation: infant is not with caregiver for a short time period