Deprivation

1
Deprivation privation
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• Bowlbys maternal deprivation hypothesis
• The effects of privation (institutionalisation,
  extreme cases)
• The extent to which privation effects can be
  reversed

2
Deprivation privation
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• Researchers distinguish between
• Deprivation an attachment forms but is then
  discontinued
• Privation no opportunity is given for
  attachments to form
• In practice it is difficult to distinguish
  between them completely

3
Maternal deprivation hypothesis
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• Based on Bowlbys ideas
• Attachment is important for survival
• Prototypes for later relationships
• Predicts developmental difficulty if the
  attachment relationship goes wrong
• General developmental problems
• Specific issues with social development

4
Maternal deprivation hypothesis
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• Prolonged deprivation of a young child of
  maternal care may have grave and far-reaching
  effects on his charactersimilar in formto
  deprivation of vitamins in infancy.
• Bowlby (1953)

5
Maternal deprivation hypothesis
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• Spitz (1945)
• Children in orphanages
• Signs of anaclitic depression
• Apathy, withdrawal, helplessness, low appetite
• Survival rates of children raised in prison
  better than those raised in orphanages

6
Maternal deprivation hypothesis
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• Spitz Wolf (1946)
• 100 psychologically normal children in long-term
  hospital care
• Most showed signs of depression
• Recovered quickly if period of hospitalisation
  was less than 3 months

7
Maternal deprivation hypothesis
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• Bowlby (1946)
• Comparison of delinquent (i.e. criminal) and
  disturbed children
• 32 of delinquents had an affectionless
  character
• Apparent inability to relate to others
• 86 of these had experienced maternal deprivation

8
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Lack of moral constraints on behaviour
9
Maternal deprivation hypothesis
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• 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