Bowlby's Theory of Maternal Deprivation (AQA A Level Psychology)

Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation

• Maternal deprivation refers to the separation between a caregiver and a child

• The consequences of maternal deprivation can be emotional and intellectual

• The theory of maternal deprivation was proposed by Bowlby (1953) stating that "mother-love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health"

• It is now understood that there are long-term effects of prolonged separation from a primary caregiver

  • This is primarily due to the absence of emotional care

Bowlby's 44 thieves study

• As part of his research, Bowlby (1944) conducted the '44 Thieves' study

• Procedure

  • Bowlby studied 88 children from the Child Guidance Clinic, London, who were emotionally maladjusted

    • Half of the children, 44, were accused of stealing (thieves)

    • The other 44 made up the control group

  • All thieves were interviewed for signs of being affectionless psychopaths

  • Bowlby suggested that this characteristic enabled the children to be thieves

  • Families were also interviewed by Bowlby to establish whether the thieves had had prolonged periods of separation from their caregiver(s)

    • Separations were due to continual or repeated stays in hospital or foster homes with few visits from their family

  • The thieves' data was compared to that of the control group

• Findings

  • Bowlby categorised 14 of the 44 thieves as affectionless psychopaths, of these 12 (86%) had experienced prolonged periods of separation from their caregivers in the first two years of their lives

  • Five (17%) of the remaining thieves had experienced prolonged separation

  • 40% of the thieves group had experienced early separation from their caregivers

  • Of the control group, only two had experienced prolonged separation

  • Bowlby concluded that prolonged and early separation from caregivers is linked to affectionless psychopathy

Separation and deprivation

• Separation is not the same as deprivation

  • Separation is when the child is not in the presence of their primary attachment figure

  • Deprivation refers to a lack of emotional care (this can happen when a caregiver is present)

• Separations from caregivers do not have a significant effect on child development as long as during the separation the infant has a substitute caregiver who can offer nurture, comfort and emotional care

  • Physical care: food, warmth and safety are not enough

• Extended separations can lead to deprivation which can cause emotional and developmental harm

The critical period

• Bowlby proposed that the first two years of a child's life are a critical period in emotional and psychological development

• Prolonged or frequent separation from the primary caregiver during this critical period and experiencing deprivation of emotional care may lead to psychological damage

  • For the separation and deprivation to have negative effects, it means that no other substitute caregiver meets the emotional needs of the infant

• Bowlby suggested that the risk of psychological damage continued until the age of five years old

Consequences on development

• Bowlby suggested that maternal deprivation would lead to consequences on intellectual and emotional development

• Intellectual development:

  • Bowlby believed that prolonged separation and deprivation would lead to delays in intellectual development, shown by an extremely low IQ

  • Goldfarb (1974) studied children from orphanages and found that children who were not adopted had lower IQs than those who were either fostered or adopted

• Emotional development:

  • Bowlby characterised those who had delayed or limited emotional development as affectionless psychopaths

    • Affectionless psychopaths lack emotion or affection toward others and lack remorse for their actions

  • The consequences of emotional development issues are difficulties in developing normal relationships and are associated with criminality

Evaluation

Strengths

• Bowlby's study changed how people thought about rearing and caring for children

  • The research conducted by Bowlby had a positive impact on how children were treated during separation from their parents, particularly during hospital stays

  • Bowlby's research led to a social change in how children were cared for in hospital

  • This means that there are real-world applications to Bowlby's research as it highlighted the importance of maternal care

• Studies show support for Bowlby's findings on maternal deprivation

  • Research into women who had experienced separation from their mothers for at least a year found that 25% experienced depression or an anxiety disorder, compared with 15% of a control group (no separation)

  • The results also showed that the intensity of mental health issues was far greater in those who had experienced separation before the age of six years

  • This supports Bowlby's idea of a critical period and the idea that maternal separation has long-lasting consequences

Limitations

• The evidence for 44 thieves study is flawed

  • Bowlby conducted the interviews with the children and the families himself

  • This could lead to bias in the findings as he may expect certain children to be affectionless psychopaths

  • Today this conclusion would be deemed unethical

  • These factors mean that the study is distorted by investigator effects

• Bowlby may have confused deprivation with privation

  • Deprivation occurs when an attachment that has already been formed has been broken (the infant is deprived of the attachment or emotional care they once had)

  • Privation is the absence of something desired or needed

  • Rutter (1981) observed that the association of affectionless psychopathy is more likely a result of privation, rather than deprivation

    • The children of the 44 thieves study had disrupted early lives and may never have formed attachments in the first place

    • This suggests that Bowlby may have placed too much cause on the effects of deprivation on children's development