Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation

Bowbly

Known for his monotropic theory of attachment

He also proposed the theory of maternal deprivation - this theory focused on the idea that a continual presence of care from a mother or mother- substitute is essential for healthy psychological development of babies and toddlers, both emotionally and intellectually

He believed that being separated from a mother in early childhood has serious consequences

Difference between separation and deprivation

Separation means the child not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure- this only becomes a problem if the child becomes deprived of emotional care

Brief separations, particularly where the child is with a substitute caregiver who can provide emotional care, are not significant for development but extended separations can lead to deprivation, which by definition causes harm

Critical period

Bowlby saw the first two and half years of life as a critical period for psychological development

If a child is separated from the mother in the absence of suitable substitute care, and therefore deprived of her emotional care for an extended duration during this critical period then psychological damaged was inevitable and continuing risk up to age 5 (Bowlby believed)

Effects on development - intellectual

Intellectual development- Bowbly believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would experience delayed intellectual development, characterised by very low IQ. This has been demonstrated in studies of adoption. For example, Goldfarb found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care

Effects on development- emotional

Emotional development- Maternal deprivation may also affect children’s emotional development. Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards tohers as well as a lack of empathy for any person they have harmed. This prevents a person fulfilling relationships and is associated with criminality. If an affectionless psychopath harms someone else, they don’t understand the other person’s feelings and so lack remorse for their actions

Bowbly research- 44 thieves study examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation

Procedure- sample in this study consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accuse of stealing. All thieves were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy. Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the thieves had prolonged early separations from their mothers. The sample was compared to a control group of 44 non- criminal but emotionally disturbed young people

Findings- Bowlby found that 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives. In contrast only five of the remaining 30 thieves had experienced separation. Only tow participants in the control group of 44 had experienced long separations. Bowlby concluded that prolonged early separation/ deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy