Maternal Deprivation

background

1930's

researchers were beginning to identify the long-term damage associated with disrupted or limited attachment opportunities

e.g., WWII evacuation of children

... many psychologists became interested in the effects of children being separated from their caregivers

Bowlby created the "maternal depriavtion hypothesis"

deprivation

loved and lost

... deprivation occurs when the attachment bind is formed and broken later in life

e.g., parent died and adopted later in life

privation

never to have loved or been loved at all

... privation occurs when a child does not form any attachment at all

e.g., institutionalisation from birth

Bowlby

"mother love in infancy is as important for mental health, as vitamins and proteins are for physical health"

"If an infant is unable to develop a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with his/her mother (or mother substitute) before the age of 2.5yrs then the child would have difficulty forming relationships with other people and be a risk of behavioural/emotional disorders."

A01

· Bowlby's (1953) Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis proposed that a "warm intimate & continuous relationship with a mother figure" is necessary for healthy psychological/emotional development

· "Motherlove in infancy/childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health"

· The continuous presence of nurture from a mother or mother-substitute is essential for normal psychological development of babies and toddlers

· Critical period of 30 months = during which, if the child is subject to maternal deprivation, psychological damage is inevitable

Children who are separated typically show 3 key behaviours:

(in the same order)

1. protest

2. despair

3. detachment

consequences of being separated from a mother in early childhood...

... could have serious consequences later in life

- an inability to form attachments in the future (internal working model)

- affectionless psychopathy (inability to feel remorse)

- delinquency (behavioural problems in adolescence)

- problems with cognitive development (low IQ)

Bowlby's 44 thieves study

44 thieves were compared with 44 non-thieves from a delinquency centre

... Bowlby collected data via interviews and questionnaires from 88 juveniles

- 86% of affectionless psychopaths experienced early attachment separation

- only 4% of the control group had experienced separation

- Bowlby found that 17/44 thieves had experienced early prolonged separation from mothers before age 5

- 15/17 of those thieves were classed as affectionless psychopaths, feeling no guilt or remorse

- only 2/44 non-thieves had experienced such separation

44 thieves study conclusions

These findings support the maternal deprivation theory as there appears to be a link between disruption to attachment in the first 5 years and later maladjustment

- Bowlby's findings indicated that experiencing disrupted attachments early in life is linked to crime, emotional maladjustment, and lower academic achievement, lending strong support for MDH

Bowlby - tuberculosis (MDH)

subsequent research reported that 60 children who had spent time apart from their mothers due to tuberculosis prior to the age of 4 demonstrated lower achievement in school

A03 MDH STRENGTH (44 thieves study)

P

A strength of Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory comes from supporting research.

EV

Bowlby's 44 thieves study found that 86% of affectionless psychopaths had experienced some sort of separation or deprivation from their mothers before the age of 5.

EX

This supports Bowlby's theory that the continuous presence of nurture from a mother or mother-substitute is essential for the normal psychological development of babies and toddlers and that if the child is subject to maternal deprivation, they may be at risk of emotional and behavioural disorders that could lead to delinquency

EXT

In addition to this, in a subsequent research experiment, Bowlby reported that 60 children who had spent time part from their mothers before the age of 4 due to having to be hospitalised because they contracted tuberculosis demonstrated lower achievements in school than other children.

LB

These studies provide evidence supporting Bowlby's theory because they demonstrate how maternal deprivation can cause problems with cognitive development and affectionless psychopathy, with an inability to feel remorse.

A03 MDH WEAKNESS (44 thieves methodlogy)

P

However, one issue of Bowlby's 44 thieves' study is that the methodology may be subject to investigator effects.

EX

Bowlby conducted and designed the reports himself, and his presence and interpretation of the data collected form the adolescents may have influenced the outcome of the research because he may have been biased towards his own theories.

EV

For example. Bowlby was the person who diagnosed the juvenile delinquents as affectionless psychopaths, and this may have been distorted by his own researcher bias.

EXT

Furthermore, Bowlby's research conclusions were based off of data collected about early childhood experiences, which the adolescents may have inaccurate or vague memories about. Therefore, this self-report method is likely to be distorted and the data inexact.

LB

Consequently, Bowlby's research should be viewed with caution because the investigator effects present and retrospective data lower the internal validity of the study.

A03 MDH WEAKNESS (other research)

P

As well as this, Bowlby's concept of the maternal deprivation hypothesis has been criticised by other attachment researchers.

EV

For example, Rutter argues that Bowlby failed to distinguish between separation from an attachment figure, the loss of an attachment figure, and a complete lack of attachment, known as privation. Rutter also pointed out that other variables may play a significant role in the development of emotions and behaviours, such as the role of the father, neglect, and genetics.

EX

As a result of this, Rutter argued that Bowlby muddled the concepts of deprivation and privation, and that relationship between psychopathy and maternal deprivation in the 44 thieves study was simply a correlation rather than a causation.

EXT

Also, replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people and in her sample, a history of early prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships, countering the findings from Bowlby's study.

LB

This suggests that Bowlby overlooked how an individual's circumstances can have different long-term effects on them and that there may be other causes than maternal deprivation that affect the outcome of a delinquents behaviour.