Attachment exam question: Applying your knowledge essay
Joe was taken away from his alcoholic parents at six months old and placed in care. He
was adopted when he was seven years old, but has a difficult relationship with his
adoptive parents. He is aggressive towards his younger siblings and is often in trouble at
school. His last school report said, ‘Joe struggles with classwork and seems to have little
regard for the feelings of others.’
Discuss Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory. Refer to the experience of Joe as part of
your discussion (16)
According to Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis emotional care of children is just as
important as physical care. Therefore, if a child is separated from their primary caregiver for
more than one week before the critical period of 2 and a half years, they will suffer from
long term damage which will be permanent and irreversible. The child will have problems
with their cognitive, social and emotional development meaning that they may find it
difficult to form attachments and they may have behavioural problems.
It is clear that Joe has been affected by maternal deprivation as he was taken away from his
parents at 6 months (within the critical period) and he was not adopted until the age of 7.
This early separation from his parents means that Joe now has a difficult relationship with
his adoptive parents (due to lack of internal working model). He is also aggressive to his
siblings showing that he is finding it difficult to form relationships as Bowlby predicted. Joe’s
aggression may also be evidence of behavioural problems. Joe clearly suffers with his
cognitive development as he struggles with schoolwork. Joe’s emotional development is
further damaged as he has little regard for the feelings of others.
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis is supported by his 44 thieves study. 14 of these
juvenile thieves were termed affectionless psychopaths as they felt no remorse or guilt for
their crime. 86% had had an early separation which seems to have affected their emotional
development in the same way as Joe (Joe also has no regard for others’ feelings). Out of the
30 thieves who did feel remorse only 17% had experienced an early separation. This
suggests that the early maternal deprivation had been the cause of the behavioural &
emotional issues. Thus, providing further explanation for Joe’s behaviour.
A strength of Bowlby’s theory is that it has led to changes in childcare with an increase in
emotional care given to children in nurseries and those living in orphanages. Attempts are
also made to adopt children at a younger age to prevent ongoing issues. This knowledge
would have been helpful for Joe. If Joe had been given better emotional care before he was
adopted (or was adopted at an earlier age) he may not have suffered such problems. This
shows important real-life applications have come from the maternal deprivation
hypothesis.
However, contradictory research would suggest that even though early separation and later
problems are linked, it doesn’t mean one causes the other. Rutter conducted the Isle of
Wight study, in which he studied 2000 boys between the ages of 9 and 11. He found that if
separation was due to physical illness or death of the mother, there was no correlation with
delinquency. However, if separation was because of discord (mental illness or divorce), boys
were 4 times as likely to be delinquent. This would explain why Joe has been having
behavioural issues; because his parents were alcoholics there may have been discord in the
home. This suggests that it is mainly family discord rather than maternal deprivation that
causes the difficulties and thus contradicts Bowlby’s theory.
Another criticism of maternal deprivation hypothesis is that the critical period of 2.5 years
may not be so absolute. Bowlby suggests that if the bond is broken within this period, then
Joe was taken away from his alcoholic parents at six months old and placed in care. He
was adopted when he was seven years old, but has a difficult relationship with his
adoptive parents. He is aggressive towards his younger siblings and is often in trouble at
school. His last school report said, ‘Joe struggles with classwork and seems to have little
regard for the feelings of others.’
Discuss Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory. Refer to the experience of Joe as part of
your discussion (16)
According to Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis emotional care of children is just as
important as physical care. Therefore, if a child is separated from their primary caregiver for
more than one week before the critical period of 2 and a half years, they will suffer from
long term damage which will be permanent and irreversible. The child will have problems
with their cognitive, social and emotional development meaning that they may find it
difficult to form attachments and they may have behavioural problems.
It is clear that Joe has been affected by maternal deprivation as he was taken away from his
parents at 6 months (within the critical period) and he was not adopted until the age of 7.
This early separation from his parents means that Joe now has a difficult relationship with
his adoptive parents (due to lack of internal working model). He is also aggressive to his
siblings showing that he is finding it difficult to form relationships as Bowlby predicted. Joe’s
aggression may also be evidence of behavioural problems. Joe clearly suffers with his
cognitive development as he struggles with schoolwork. Joe’s emotional development is
further damaged as he has little regard for the feelings of others.
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis is supported by his 44 thieves study. 14 of these
juvenile thieves were termed affectionless psychopaths as they felt no remorse or guilt for
their crime. 86% had had an early separation which seems to have affected their emotional
development in the same way as Joe (Joe also has no regard for others’ feelings). Out of the
30 thieves who did feel remorse only 17% had experienced an early separation. This
suggests that the early maternal deprivation had been the cause of the behavioural &
emotional issues. Thus, providing further explanation for Joe’s behaviour.
A strength of Bowlby’s theory is that it has led to changes in childcare with an increase in
emotional care given to children in nurseries and those living in orphanages. Attempts are
also made to adopt children at a younger age to prevent ongoing issues. This knowledge
would have been helpful for Joe. If Joe had been given better emotional care before he was
adopted (or was adopted at an earlier age) he may not have suffered such problems. This
shows important real-life applications have come from the maternal deprivation
hypothesis.
However, contradictory research would suggest that even though early separation and later
problems are linked, it doesn’t mean one causes the other. Rutter conducted the Isle of
Wight study, in which he studied 2000 boys between the ages of 9 and 11. He found that if
separation was due to physical illness or death of the mother, there was no correlation with
delinquency. However, if separation was because of discord (mental illness or divorce), boys
were 4 times as likely to be delinquent. This would explain why Joe has been having
behavioural issues; because his parents were alcoholics there may have been discord in the
home. This suggests that it is mainly family discord rather than maternal deprivation that
causes the difficulties and thus contradicts Bowlby’s theory.
Another criticism of maternal deprivation hypothesis is that the critical period of 2.5 years
may not be so absolute. Bowlby suggests that if the bond is broken within this period, then
