Attachment
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
Continuous emotional care from a mother or mother-substitute is necessary for normal emotional
and intellectual development. Separation from the mother may lead to maternal deprivation.
Bowlby believed that mother-love in infancy is ‘as important for mental health as vitamins and
proteins are for physical health’.
Separation means the child is not in the presence of the primary attachment figure. Deprivation
means losing emotional care as a result of the separation. Deprivation can be avoided if alternative
emotional care is offered, thus separation doesn’t always cause deprivation.
If a child is separated from their mother (without substitute emotional care) for an extended time
during the first 30 months (crtical period), then psychological damage is inevitable. If a child is
deprived of maternal care for too long during this critical period, they will suffer mental retardation
and abnormally low IQ.
Goldfarb compared children raised in institutions for the first three years of their lives with a control
group who were fostered or adopted earlier. He found the institutionalised group had lower IQs
than the control group. However, the other children (control group) may have been chosen by their
foster parents because they had a high IQ.
Deprivation is linked to affectionless psychopathy. Lack of emotional care may also lead to
affectionless psychopathy – the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others. This
prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality.
Bowbly’s Study – 44 Thieves
PROCEDURE – the sample in this study was 44 delinquent teenagers accused of stealing. Families
were also interviewed to establish any prolonged separations from mothers. All ‘thieves’ were
interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy, characterised by a lack of affection, guilt and
empathy.
FINDINGS – 14/44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths. Of these, 12 had
experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives. In contrast,
only 5 of the remaining 30 ‘thieves’ had experienced separations. This suggests prolonged early
separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy.
Evaluation
Animal studies have demonstrated maternal deprivation. Most psychologists are critical of
the maternal deprivation theory, but one line of research supports that maternal deprivation
can have long-term effects. Levy et al. showed that separating baby rats from their mother
for as little as a day had a permanent effect on social development. However, there is always
some doubt over the extent to which animal studies like this can be generalised to human
behaviour.
There is counter evidence which does not support Bowlby’s findings. Lewis partially
replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people. Early
prolonged maternal separation did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close
relationships. This is a limitation of Bowlby’s theory as it suggests that other factors may
affect the outcomes of early maternal separation.
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
Continuous emotional care from a mother or mother-substitute is necessary for normal emotional
and intellectual development. Separation from the mother may lead to maternal deprivation.
Bowlby believed that mother-love in infancy is ‘as important for mental health as vitamins and
proteins are for physical health’.
Separation means the child is not in the presence of the primary attachment figure. Deprivation
means losing emotional care as a result of the separation. Deprivation can be avoided if alternative
emotional care is offered, thus separation doesn’t always cause deprivation.
If a child is separated from their mother (without substitute emotional care) for an extended time
during the first 30 months (crtical period), then psychological damage is inevitable. If a child is
deprived of maternal care for too long during this critical period, they will suffer mental retardation
and abnormally low IQ.
Goldfarb compared children raised in institutions for the first three years of their lives with a control
group who were fostered or adopted earlier. He found the institutionalised group had lower IQs
than the control group. However, the other children (control group) may have been chosen by their
foster parents because they had a high IQ.
Deprivation is linked to affectionless psychopathy. Lack of emotional care may also lead to
affectionless psychopathy – the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others. This
prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality.
Bowbly’s Study – 44 Thieves
PROCEDURE – the sample in this study was 44 delinquent teenagers accused of stealing. Families
were also interviewed to establish any prolonged separations from mothers. All ‘thieves’ were
interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy, characterised by a lack of affection, guilt and
empathy.
FINDINGS – 14/44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths. Of these, 12 had
experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives. In contrast,
only 5 of the remaining 30 ‘thieves’ had experienced separations. This suggests prolonged early
separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy.
Evaluation
Animal studies have demonstrated maternal deprivation. Most psychologists are critical of
the maternal deprivation theory, but one line of research supports that maternal deprivation
can have long-term effects. Levy et al. showed that separating baby rats from their mother
for as little as a day had a permanent effect on social development. However, there is always
some doubt over the extent to which animal studies like this can be generalised to human
behaviour.
There is counter evidence which does not support Bowlby’s findings. Lewis partially
replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people. Early
prolonged maternal separation did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close
relationships. This is a limitation of Bowlby’s theory as it suggests that other factors may
affect the outcomes of early maternal separation.
