Evaluation

• One limitation of the maternal deprivation hypothesis is the poor quality of evidence it was based on. Bowlby's evidence was based on studies of children often during the Second World War this evidence is flawed because war orphans were traumatised and often had poor after-care so these factors may have been the causes of later development difficulties rather than separation.
• John Bowlby's 44 thieves study was biased, not all research supported his findings. Lewis partially replicated the study on a larger scale and found a history of early prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality/difficulty forming close relationships. This is a problem for Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation as it suggests that other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal deprivation.
• Another limitation of the maternal deprivation hypothesis is problems with the critical period. Bowlby Believed that damage would unavoidably be done if a child was separated from mother for a prolonged. However later research has shown damage isn't inevitable, some cases of very severe deprivation have had good outcomes provided the child has some social interaction and good aftercare.

  This shows that the period may be a 'sensitive' one but it cannot be critical.