Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory

• maternal deprivation theory

  the long-term absence of nurturing from a mother during the critical period of 6 months - 2 1/2 years.
• It is argued if a child is deprived of a mothers emotional care for an extended period of time that psychological damage in inevitable either intellectually, emotionally, or both
• Prolonged emotional deprivation would have long-term consequences for healthy child development. The continual presence of nurture from a mother is essential for normal psychological development of infants.
• 6 months - 2 1/2 years is the critical period for psychological development but it is still risky up to the age of 5
• if a child is separated from their mother and there is no suitable substitute care for an extended period of time, it can be argued psychological damage is inevitable
• Bowlby believed if children were maternally deprived during the critical period they would suffer mental retardation and abnormally low IQ
• Goldfarb (1947) found lower IQ in children who remained in institutions opposed to children who were fostered
• affectionless psychopathy

  an affectionless psychopath has a lack of guilt, empathy for victims and affection
• affectionless psychopathy is an emotional affect of maternal deprivation - the individual has an inability to experience guilt or strong emotions for others and an inability to develop normal social relationships. It is associated with criminality
• Aim of 44 thieves

  to examine the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
• procedure of 44 thieves

  • 44 young thieves interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
  • families interviewed to establish any signs of maternal deprivation during critical period
  • thieves compared to a control group of non-thieves
• findings of 44 thieves

  • 14/44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths
  • 12/14 experienced maternal deprivation during the critical period
  • 2/44 of the control group experienced maternal deprivation during the critical period
• conclusion of 44 thieves

  prolonged early separation from the mother causes affectionless psychopathy
• A strength of Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory is supporting evidence from the 44 thieves study. 44 young thieves and their families were interviewed and compared to a control group of non-thieves. 14/44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths and 12/14 had experienced maternal deprivation during the critical period. This is positive as it suggests maternal deprivation can cause emotional damage such as affectionless psychopathy
• A limitation is Bowlby's research was criticised for investigator bias as his research had major design flaws. Bowlby carried out the investigation, the assessments for affectionless psychopathy and interviews knowing what he hoped to find. It was suggested Bowlby may have interpreted his findings in a biased way.
• A limitation is that other researchers have criticised the idea of the critical period. Rutter (1990) found it is not impossible for attachments to form after this period, just less likely and suggested a more accurate term is the sensitive period to reflect that whilst it is an important window of time, bonds can still be formed outside this window. This is problematic as it suggests Bowlby's theory is overly negative.
• Evidence against maternal deprivation comes from the case of the Czech twins who were locked up for 7 years & when discovered couldn't talk. They were looked after by 2 sisters and by 14, they had near normal intellectual and social functioning. By 20, they were above average intelligence and had formed strong attachments. This goes against Bowlby's theory because it suggests the effects of deprivation may not be permanent and are reversible