Evaluation of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis

Evaluation of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis

1. Much of the evidence used to support the hypothesis came from studies of children in institutions

   • Children were deprived in many ways, e.g. physical deprivation
   • Other forms of deprivation may have affected children's development

2. Not all research has found that deprivation leads to maladjustment

   • BOWLBY ET AL. (1956)
     • Group of children under 4 years hospitalized
       • Strict nursing regimes in hospital and impersonal care
       • Children visited weekly by families
     • Data collected about children between 7 and 14 years
       • Assessed by psychologists and their teachers interviewed
     • Hospitalized children compared with control group who had not been in hospital
       • No differences between two groups in terms of delinquency or difficulty in forming social relationships
         • Suggests that deprivation has no harmful effects
     • Individual differences may have affected findings
       • Children who are securely attached may cope better with deprivation

3. MICHAEL RUTTER (1981)

   • The relationship between separation and later maladjustment is only a correlational association, not a causal relationship (no cause and effect)
   • Families may be AT RISK of early separation and later maladjustment due to factors such as poor living conditions or family discord
     • RUTTER (1976)
       • Interviewed over 2000 boys and their families
       • Found that delinquency was most common among boys who had experienced separations due to family problems
       • Family discord (which may lead to separation) causes delinquency and emotional maladjustment
   • Privation
     • Privation is the total lack of an attachment being formed
       • It may be privation rather than deprivation that has permanent and irreversible effects
     • With deprivation, an attachment bond had been formed but is now disrupted

4. Has had an enormous impact on the way children are looked after, particularly in hospitals where children reside away from home

   • BEFORE: parents were discouraged from visiting their children as this was thought to cause much distress to child
   • NOW: parents are encouraged to stay overnight as this is recognised to prevent emotional deprivation and reduces anxiety