1. Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Theory
Not to be confused with his Monotropic Theory of attachment

2. What was Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis stating?
That if a child does not form an attachment within the critical period, or if the attachment is disrupted, Bowlby argues that this could result in serious long-term developmental consequences later in life 

3. Attachment Disruption
Causes distress when infant is separated for a relatively short period of time from P C Giver to whom an attachment has been formed
Separation
Deprivation
Bond disruption
Privation means NO attachment has been formed at all
Occurs when a bond that has been formed is broken

4. The Critical Period
Bowlby considered that there was a critical period from about 6 months to 2 ½ years when infants should have a continuous, unbroken relationship with one person (this later became monotropism)

5. JB’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
“Prolonged deprivation of a young child of maternal care may have grave and far-reaching effects on his character…similar in form…to deprivation of vitamins in infancy”

6. Bowlby concluded that
Maternal love was necessary for mental health / emotional development, the same as food is important for physical development
Loss of a mother fig (maternal deprivation) during first few years of life may lead to issues later on in life – i.e the infant potentially not thriving
Maternal deprivation may have a lasting effect on whether the child can form bonds later in life and on social, emotional and even physical development!

7. Bowlby developed his Maternal deprivation theory
He said attachment is important for survival
It creates the prototype for later relationships (internal working model)
It can be used to predict developmental difficulty if the attachment relationship goes wrong – i.e
General developmental problems
Specific issues with social development

8. Maternal deprivation hypothesis was based on the 44 thieves study
Bowlby (1946)
Compared ‘delinquent’ (i.e. criminal) and ‘disturbed’ children
He found 32% of delinquents had an ‘affectionless character’
Meaning an apparent inability to relate to others
86% of these ‘affectionless characters’
had experienced maternal deprivation

9. Disruption to attachment process
Inability to form relationships with others
Lack of moral constraints on behaviour
Delinquent or criminal behaviour

10. Maternal deprivation hypothesis – supporting evidence
Spitz (1945)
Investigated children in orphanages
Most showed signs of ‘anaclitic depression’
Apathy, withdrawal, helplessness, low appetite
He found that survival rates of children raised in prison were better than those raised in orphanages.

11. However
Spitz & Wolf (1946)
Investigated 100 psychologically normal children in long-term hospital care
Most showed signs of depression
They found that most recovered quickly if the period of hospitalisation was less than 3 months.
This suggests the length of separation is an important factor, and that the effects are reversible 

12. Maternal deprivation hypothesis
Criticisms of Bowlby (1946):
Retrospective data
‘Affectionless’ diagnosis made by Bowlby – possibility of bias
Great variation in duration of separation from mother
Overemphasised the fact of separation at the expense of the reasons for separation- also didn’t take into account the reasons for the separation

13. Criticism of Bowlby’s Theory
Research has shown that Bowlby overemphasised the importance of the continuity of the bond and the need for the child for only one particular attachment relationship - L
can you think of anymore criticisms?

14. Criticism The following specific criticisms have been raised:
 In ethology the ideas of the critical period has been replaced by a ‘sensitive’ period – a more flexible concept.
 Deprivation effects in 6-month-old isolated monkeys can be overcome by placing them with 3-month-old normally reared monkeys (Suomi & Harlow, 1972).
 Intensity of response to strangers in human infants depends on previous experience. 1-2 year-olds can form relationships with new adults.

15. Criticism of Bowlby’s Theory (continued)
Research does not uphold the idea of monotropism. E.g: Children have been found to form attachment bonds with more than one adult and separation from one attachment figure can be compensated for if another is present (e.g. Main & Weston, 1981).
There is no straightforward relationship between early separation experiences and adolescent delinquency (Rutter, 1981).
Death of a parent does not have the same effect as separation/divorce. The critical factor is whether children are sensitively supported.

16. Evidence for Bowlby’s MDH Theory
 Work on imprinting and the ‘following’ response - E
 Observations of young children separated from their parents who went through a characteristic sequence:
Protest
Despair
Detachment
Protest, despair, detachment model (Roberston & Bowlby, 1952) - S
 Research showed that children in long-term institutional care were underdeveloped in social, language and cognitive development - S
The social maladjustment of isolated monkeys (Harlow & Harlow, 1958, 1969) - S
 Evidence linking delinquency in adolescence with separation experiences in childhood - Bowlby (1944) ’44 Thieves study’ - E

17. Recap…. Keeping track.... What have we covered so far in Attachment?
What you need to learn
Definition of attachment
Reciprocity
Interactional synchronicity
Development of attachment
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) describe and evaluate
Stages of attachment
Role of the father
Animal studies of attachment
Lorenz (imprinting)
Harlow
Describe and evaluate these two studies linking them to attachment
Explanations of attachment
Learning approach explanation of attachment: describe and evaluate
Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment describe and evaluate
The Strange Situation (Ainsworth, 1978)
Describe and evaluate
Types of attachment
Cross-cultural variations in attachment (Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
Disruption of attachment
Maternal deprivation Hypothesis
Effects of institutionalisation-Romanian orphans: Rutter & Songa-Barke
Influence of early attachment
Internal working model
Hazan and Shaver describe and evaluate
Recap….
What have we covered so far in Attachment?
How confident are you with the content knowledge (A01)?
Can you apply the content / knowledge (A02) ?
Can you can evaluate the content / knowledge (A03)?