bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

What is maternal deprivation

When a child is lacking a healthy relationship with their mother and this is caused by prolonged separation

What effects can maternal deprivation have

• effects on intellectual development

• Effects on emotional development

How does maternal deprivation effect intellectual development

Goldfarb found that those children who were maternally deprived in orphanages had a much lower IQ

How does maternal deprivation effect emotional development

Bowlby said it would lead to the inability to show affection or concern and could lead to affectionless psychopathy

What was the aim of bowlbys 44 thieves study

To examine the links between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy

Bowlbys 44 thieves procedure

• sample consisted of 44 teenagers accused of stealing

• All were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy

• Families were also interviewed to see if they have suffered from prolonged separation

What was the control group in bowlbys study

44 teenagers who were emotionally disturbed but not delinquents to see how often maternal deprivation occurred in. Hildren who weren’t delinquent

What were the results of bowlbys study

• 14/44 of the thieves were described as affectionless psychopaths and 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation in the first two years of life

• 2/44 of the control group had suffered maternal deprivation but 0 were affectionless psychopaths

What was the conclusion of bowlbys study

Prolonged separation cause affectionless psychopathy

What are the strengths of this study

• supporting evidence

What is the supporting evidence for this study

Harlow found that the monkeys he removed from their mothers had suffered from this and had impacts later in their life such as

• abusive

• Killing offspring

What are the limitations of this study

• sensitive period rather than critical

• Deprivation or privation

• Contradictory evidence

Contradictory evidence

Bowlby carried out the interviews and the assessment and so may have been biased because he wanted it to show specific results

Sensitive period rather than critical

There was a case study of Czech twin boys who has been isolated for 18 months but later in life were 2 loving adults who fully recovered

Deprivation or privation

Deprivation is the loss of the attachment figure while privation is the failure to form any attachment so the thieves study shows privation as they never formed an attachment in the first place