Separation

Separation

1. A01

2. Robertson's were interested in seeing if Bowlby’s theory of monotropy was true and if children who experienced a disruption in their attachment would experience either short or long term negative effect.

   • They collected date from a variety of case studies from children who were separated from their mothers. They showed that separation does not always lead to emotional deprivation however children do experience some negative consequences.

3. Case one: The study of a boy called John who spent time in hospital. He had little attention from the staff and become more progressively withdrawn and despairing the longer he spent away from his mother.

   • Finally when his mother came to collect him he tried to get away from her. He was still having difficulty attaching to his mother months after he returned home.

4. On the other hand not all children who were separated from their primary care giver experienced detrimental effects.

   • Joyce Robertson became the foster mother to one child and arranged visits to the childs’s mother in hospital and allowed them to bring things home, maintaining emotional bonds. This child ate and slept well whilst in care and welcomed parents at the end of their stay.
     • The child who had little attention from the staff was negatively affected by the separation and did not want to return to their caregiver on return however the child who was given adequate attention and care stayed well during the separation period and return to their parents on return. Robertson and Robertson’s study shows that if substitute emotional care is provided then deprivation may be avoided.

5. A02

6. A strength of their study is the fact that they had a great effect on the way children are looked after in hospitals today. Before the Robertson’s work parents were not allowed to stay with their children and kids had to remain alone in the hospital over-night.

   • The Robertson showed the medical profession that children go through three stages when staying in hospital. First they protest, crying that they do not want to be left behind, after a few days they experience despair and become isolated, after some time they become attached to their new caregivers and reject their mothers when they come back to take them home
     • From their work the Robertson’s were able to change hospital policy so parents are now allowed to stay with their children when they have to spend time in hospital

7. Support: Skeels and Dye compared the development of one group of orphans raised in a home for women who were mentally retarded (they were given attention) and a control group who remained in the original institution. After 1 ½ years the IQ of the control group fell and the IQs of the children raised in the women’s home increased. This was credited to the emotional care received from the adults which reduced the emotional deprivation experienced by the children.

8. Criticism: However, A criticism of this study is that it cannot be generalised. It was a single case study conducted using 13 children therefore it has low population validity. Also the children who were placed in the women’s home could have generally been smarter and initially started off with higher IQs.