Maternal Deprivation

44 Thieves

  • see if there's a correlation between MD in infancy & adolescent delinquency
  • Opportunity sample - 88 kids from clinic where Bowlby worked

44 juvenile thieves - had IQ tested & emotional attitudes assessed

social worker interviewed a parent to record details of childs early life

Bowlby conduced initial interview w/ child & parent - e.g. diagnosing affectionless psychopathy

  • +half juvenile thieves separated from mothers for +6m during their first 5y

14 young thieves showed AP (Affectionless psychopathy) →none of control group were AP

→ more likely to have emotional trauma / effect long term if you don't have parental figure for period of time

Strengths

  • Real World applicable

→ know emotional care is just as vital to develop

→ apply to care homes - these children need more EC

  • Ethically sound
  • no psychological harm / distress

Weakness

  • not generalisable

→ done in western culture - diff attitudes to eastern cultures where it's collectivist

  • low ecological validity

→ can't apply to everyone outside sample → only in prison