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Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation - attachment
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Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivationA limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation is that the evidence may be poor. For
example, his 44 thieves study had some major design flaws, most importantly bias. Bowlby himself
carried out the assessments for affectionless psychopathy and the family interviews, knowing what
he hoped to find. Hence this study lacks validity as his presence and interpretation might have
influenced the outcome of the research.
Another flaw of Bowlby’s study is that there is counter evidence. Hilda Lewis partially replicated the
44 thieves study on a larger scale. She found that history of early prolonged separation from the
mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships. This is a problem of
Bowlby’s theory as it suggests that other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal
deprivation.
Another weakness is that Bowlby’s critical period is more of a sensitive period. For example, Jarmila
reported the case of twin boys who had been separated for the age of 18 months until they were 7
years old. Subsequently they were looked after by two loving adults and appeared to recover fully.
Therefore, this is a limitation as it is proved by later research that the damage is not inevitable as
Bowlby suggested.
Alternatively, a strength is that animal studies show the effects of maternal deprivation. Harlow
found that monkeys that had been deprived of a mother had severe consequences. They were less
sociable and more aggressive than other monkeys. Therefore, this is a strong point as there is valid
research that has provided support for the idea that maternal deprivation can have long term
effects.
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