Disrupted Familes

Disrupted Families

• Bowlby believed that babies have a biological need for a warm, stable and continuous attachment with a mother or mother substitute.
• the attachment bond is monotropic is established between the infant and one person.
• the bond develops between the months of seven and three years
• if a child experiences maternal deprivation that is the bond is either not formed or is broken fairly frequent and prolonged periods then the child is at risk of suffering a number of shirt term and long term consequences.

Disrupted families

• study of 44 juvenile deliquents, adolescents that had been caught stealing and who had come to a child guidance clinic for treatment
• between 1936 and 1939 44 consecutive cases cases if children referred for theft were analysed
• no sampling method, all suitable cases that came to the clinic were used in the study.
• The 44 juvenile delinquents were compared to 44 cases who were also referred to the child guidance clinic but who did not steal- called the control group.
• allowed Bowlby to compare directly the characteristics of the children who stole with those who did not.
• Two groups roughly matched on age and score on IQ test.

Disrupted Families

• On arrival each child had their IQ tested by a psychologist
• A social worker interviewed a parent to record details of the child's early life
• psychologist and social worker made separate notes
• A psychiatrist then conducted an initial interview with the child and the accompanying parent.
• the three professionals than met to discuss impressions and read school reports.
• psychiatrist then conducted a series of further interviews over the next few months

Disrupted Families

• 17 out of the 44 delinquents had been separated fro their mothers for some period of time before the age of five
• comparisons with similar children, who were emotionally disturbed but did not steal showed they were less likely to have been separated from their, (2 out of 44)?
• concluded that maternal deprivation could seriously affect the child's social development, producing juvenile delinquency