PRIVATION

PRIVATION

1. Privation is the failure to form an attachment

2. Two types of study that tell us about privation

   • Case Studies of children who were brought up in extreme circumstances
     • Genie
       • -13 year old, height of 6 year old
       • Couldn't talk or walk
       • Kept locked in a cage at night, strapped to a potty in the day, by her dad (Mr Wylie)
       • Mother and brother never spoke to her and neighbours were unaware of her existence
       • Police found out about Genie and Mr Wylie's treatment of her, Wylie committed suicide
       • Scientists took care of her and treated her like a new born
         • Scientists thought things like walking and talking could only be learned in critical period
           • Genie proved theory wrong and developed at a fast rate
             • wide vocabulary, but couldnt grasp grammar and therefore couldnt form sentences
       • Lack of interaction with people, left the left part of Genies brain, understimulated
         • Neglect caused her brain to shrink (synaptic pruning)
       • On 18th birthday, Genie moved back with her mother into her house where she was abused
         • Mother couldn't cope so she moved into state homes
           • Genies condition deteriorated
       • Mother banned psychologists and scientists from seeing Genie
         • Genie now lives in a state home
     • PM + JM (Czechoslovakian twins)
   • Studies of children who were raised in institutions
     • Hodges and Tizard (1978)

3. Confounding variables and mediating factors

   • Malnutrition
   • Abuse
   • abnormalities
   • Time that they were abused for
   • Age that abuse started