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Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis - Coggle Diagram
Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
Key Terms
Privation:
never
having formed an attachment in the first place (rare). More likely to cause long term damage
Separation:
short term
disruption of the attachment bond and distress is minimised by return of PAF
Deprivation:
long term
separation, more permanent periods of attachment loss eg. parental divorce
Long-Term Effects of MD
Delinquency
They may turn to crime to compensate for their lost relationship
Could be because they don't feel empathy as empathising with the victim can help us resist the urge to commit a crime
Tendency for young people to commit minor crimes. (eg. Trespassing, Shoplifting or Vandalism
Developmental Retardation
Low IQ
Can significantly impair intellect and adaptive functioning in life
Intellectual, Motor, Social or Linguistic development
Slower development than normal in one or more areas of development
Aggression
More likely to be aggressive throughout adolescence and adulthood
Being volatile, violent and worsening acts of anger and hostility towards others and property
Affectionless Psychopathy
Act on impulse with little regard for the consequences of their actions
Inability to show affection or concern for others
Prevents development of 'normal' relationships and associated with criminality
Emotional consequence
Depression
Children who suffer deprivation are very likely to have depression
Persistent low mood, anger, aggression towards self and others
Bowlby's 44 Thieves Study
Methodology
Social worker interviewed parents to record details of early childhood
IQ test upon arrival by psychologist
Psychiatrist (Bowlby) conducted interviews with child and parent
44 juvenile thieves and 44 children as 'control group'
Conclusions
17% of the not diagnosed with AP had experienced maternal separation
86% of the 'affectionless psychopaths' experience long period of maternal separation before 5 years old
32% showed 'affectionless psychopathy', whereas none of the control did
Over 1/2 of Juveniles had been separated from mothers for longer than 6 months during first 5 months of life (control only had 2/44)
Weaknesses
Investigator Bias - Bowlby was involved
May have influenced responses in interviews
Bowlby interpreted the data himself - leads to confirmation bias, only focusing on data that supports his theory
Retrospective Research and Self-report
Social desirability bias from parents to avoid blame or guilt
Inaccuracies and bias through memory distortion
Correlational - cannot establish cause and effect
Other factors: Poverty, or Genetic Predispostions
MD and AP are associated but cannot say one caused the other