Outline and Evaluate Research Into Attachment Privation

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Outline and evaluate research into attachment privation Privation is when a child fails to form any attachments. A lot of research has been conducted into attachment privation and the effects caused by this lack of attachment. In 1969, Curtis conducted research into the case of Genie; a girl who suffered extreme cruelty from her father, and never formed any attachments. Her father kept her strapped to a high chair with a potty in a seat for most of her childhood. She was beaten if she made any sounds, and she did not have the chance to play with other toys and children. When discovered, Genie was thirteen years old. She was physically undeveloped and she could only speak with animal like sounds. Genie received plenty of education, stimulation and interaction and was able to show some improvement in spatial and perceptual awareness. Genie was unable to master language skills at a normal level because she had missed a critical period. As Genie was disinterested in other people and could not fully use language, this may be due to early emotional privation, causing her to fall behind in intellectual and emotional development. Unfortunately as this research was a case study, it has low reliability as the findings were obtained from one exceptional individual. This means that we cannot generalise the findings. Also, we are unsure if Genie was retarded from birth. This is a weakness as her lack of intellectual development may be due to being retarded opposed to the effects caused by privation. We are also unsure if genie had an attachment with her mother or brother. If Genie had formed an attachment then this study does not provide research into attachment privation. In 1976, Koluchova conducted research into the case of Andrei and Vanya, twin boys whose mother died soon after they were born. They were cared for by a social agency for a year and then fostered by a
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