Procedure
88 children age 5-16 were referred to Bowlby’s clinic for guidance counselling. 44 of the children were referred due to stealing, bowlby identified 16 of them as having affectionless psychopathy. The remaining 44 children had committed no crime they were just emotionally disturbed, none of these had emotionless psychopathy. Bowlby interviewed the children and their families and was able to build up a record of early experience.
Findings
Bowlby found a large number of thieves were diagnosed with affectionless psychopathy (86%) and had experienced prolonged and early separations from their mothers. Only 17% of the non-affectionless psychopathy thieves had experienced separations. 4% of the non-thieves had experienced early separation.
Conclusions
Findings suggest a link between early separations and later social and emotional maladjustment. In its most severe form it can cause affectionless psychopathy and in a less severe form can cause anti-social behaviour. Therefore the findings support Bowlby’s MDH theory.
Evaluation
Evidence is correlational so we can only assume the separation and affectionless psychopathy are linked, not that they cause each other.
The data on separation were collected retrospectively so it might not be reliable. Parents may not accurately recall separation.
They may have over/under estimated the frequency.
Separation
In the 1930s and 1940s psychologists studied children who had experienced prolonged separations from their families. They observed that these children were often disturbed and lacking in intelligence.
Effects of physical separation
- Spitz and wolf (1946) observed 100 normal children placed in an institution become severely depressed within a few months
- Skeels and dye (1939) found similar children scored poorly on intelligence tests
- These effects were quite a surprise because before these studies no one really thought about the effects of separation on infants and children
- It was assumed that a good standard of physical care was all that would be required when infants and children were separated from attachment figures.
Components of distress Bowlby (1969)
The PDD model is made up of three stages, Protest, Despair and Detachment
- Protest – the child protests at separation because they’re rejecting the idea of being left by crying, calling for their mother, and showing signs of panic.
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Despair – after a few days the child loses interest in their surroundings, becomes withdrawn, cries and eats less frequently because the idea of their caregiver not coming back is sinking in
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Detachment – the child cries less, becomes more alert and starts taking interest in their surroundings as they’ve started to accept the idea of the caregiver not coming back. If the caregiver returns, the child might not show interest.
Case study: Jane & John. (Robertson and Robertson)
The Robertson’s filmed 5 children aged 1-2 whose mothers were in hospital for 9-27 days for the birth of a new baby.
John: 17 months – 9 days in a residential nursery
John spent 9 days in a residential nursery, the staff had little time to attend to his personal needs and he was overwhelmed by the new environment. John became withdrawn and when his mother came back he pushed her away and had outbursts of anger towards her.
Jane: 17 months – 10 days in foster care
Jane spent 10 days in foster care, in the Robertson’s home. Food and routine was kept similar to her home routine, her father visited every day and foster mother was fully available. The first few days she showed signs of separation anxiety by being impatient and not wanting to be held but she slept and ate well and warmed to the family. Jane’s reunion with her mother was easy.
They concluded that short term separation had serious effects on john with possible permanent damage to his mother. They found child’s ability to cope with separation if effected by age, level of maturity, parent-child relationship and quality of substitute care. Effects of separation are minimalized if a child is introduced to the new environment before separation and that the child’s routine is kept similar to the one at home.
