Maternal Deprivation and Privation

Maternal Deprivation and Privation

1. Definition; -

   • Lack of having an attachments due to failure to develop them early on

2. Definition; -

   • The loss of something wanted or needed such as an attachment figure for long term or permanently

3. Robertsons (1968) - PDD Model

   • 3 Stages
     • Protest - Protest a lot for a few hours by crying and panicking
       • Despair - After a day or two it will start to lose interest and becoming more withdrawn. May also eat less and sleep less may try and gain attention but if not fulfilled will give up
         • Detachment - After a few days the child will become more interested in its surroundings and seem recovered from the distress. However the bond is permanently damaged and trust will be lost
   • In a naturalistic observation of children who had been separate for a few days and filmed
     • John who was 18 months stayed in a nursery for 9 days
       • Went through the PDD stages
         • This short term separation with mum had been permanently damaged due to rejection of attention from her
   • Evaluation
     • v/ - Findings suggest that separation should be avoided at all costs, should be able to visit in hospital or remain with her
     • v/ - Due to it being in a naturalistic setting it is high in ecological validity so the findings would be more reliable, the design also insured lack of observer bias and anyone can access to approve it
     • X= Studies show that children in foster care do better than those institutionalised due to receiving one on one emotional support and can manage to cope with the separation
     • X = Other factors could have influenced how a child reacts to separation. The quality of care is important because if the child doesn't receive the same amount of attention and emotional support the child could struggle with the change and depending on how many separations could have a huge knock on effect. Not necessarily a PDD effect

4. Bowlby (1944) - Study in Deprivation

   • 44 Thieves referred in a clinic compared to 44 emotionally unstable Adolescents who didn't steal
     • 17 of the thieves suffered from frequent separation before 2
       • Found a positive correlation between deprivation and criminal behaviour
         • Concluded that separation can lead to affectionless psychopathy, anaclitic depression and deprivation dwarfism
   • Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
     • infant had deprivation from the caregiver between the critical period (3-5) and have damaging effects
       • Long Term may lead to separation anxiety and is fearful of further spearations from caregiver
   • Evaluation
     • v/ - Goldfarb (1947) - Reversing the effects of Deprivation
       • One group in orphanage for short term other long term. Tested until 12 on peer relations and IQ. The long term group were more aggressive, social underdeveloped and poor IQ scores
     • v/ = Case Study provides a lot of detail in the study of deprivation, the rare situation provides unique answers
     • X = Rutter (1998) - Studied Romanian orphans before they were 2 and found that by 4 they had caught up in terms of development which reversed the effects of deprivation. This shows how with the right emotional care these effects can be reduced
     • X = Relied on retrospective data which may be unreliable due to relying on the interviewee having an accurate account of experiences that took years before which may be difficult due to the interviewee getting confused between the exposed and non-exposed
     • Bifulco (1992) - Triggers = Early disruptions may make a person more psychological vulnerable and if triggered by stressful events later in life then they can develop mental disorders

5. Curtiss (1977) - The Case of Genie

   • Abused by her parents, strapped to a high chair with a potty until she was 13 and beaten every time she made noise
     • Forbidden to play with toys and kept isolated
       • She was physically underdeveloped and only to speak animal noises other than "stoppit" and "nomore"
         • In terms of logic her development was above average however her language skills were permanently affected and never recovered like her physical and social skills.
   • Evaluation
     • X - The case studies show different results in terms of recovery. Genie never fully recovered whereas the Czech twins made a full recovery and living a perfectly normal life. This shows that you can still function properly in the world without monotropy
       • She may have been mentally retarded which could explain the cause of her developmental probems or that she may have actually formed an attachment to her mother
       • Twins formed an attachment to one an another
     • X - This experiment can be classed as unethical because Genies mother sued the psychologists for excessive testing. Genies own interests were not best served by the interests of science
     • v/ = These studies do show a correlation between Privation and Serious development problems as well really detailed information.

6. Hodges and Tizard (1989) - Studies on Early Institutional care

   • Longitudinal Study on 65 children and by 4 some had returned, be adopted and stayed in the Nursery. Being a natural experiment it is high in Ecological Validity
     • Adopted had strong family relationships whilst the others didn't however all three groups had poor peer relations skills.
       • Children can recover from privation if placed in a loving, good quality environment however social development still stunted compared to those who were raised tradtionally
   • These studies may provide accurate records of what children experienced, seeing as they can be properly scientifically observed over a long period
   • Evaluation
     • v/ - Rutter (1998) - Studied Romanian children who were adopted before 2. He found that they were underveloped when compared to other children by the age of two however by the age of 4 they had caught up. This supports Hodges and Tizard by showing a good quality home can recover from privation
     • X - The smple was quite small and more than 20 children couldn't be found at the end of the study so its difficult to generalise the results.