This supports bowlby’s theory that failure to form attachments has an irreversible effect on emotional development. This research however can be criticised because it lacks external validity. This is due to the fact that it was a longitudinal study, and during the 16 years there would have been participant drop off. This means that there would be less participants and therefore a smaller sample size, so it cannot be generalised. There is also the chance of social desirability as some people are likely to pretend they have a better relationship with their parents/children so they seem like better parents than they think they are.
This supports Bowlby's theory of sensitive period. There was another study conducted by Stout, Stout conducted a study of Romanian orphans who had experienced severe conditions and found that they later suffered permanent psychological damage, including no ability to interact with people and increased aggression. Psychologists successfully showed the impacts of institutionalisation; a strength of Hodges and Tizards study was that it was longitudinal so the researchers were able to see how the institution affected the children over many years. However a weakness of this longitudinal method involves attrition, where many of the children may have left the study because they were well adjusted, therefore resulting in a biased remaining sample - children with pleasant behaviour are more likely to be adopted. Some research suggests that individuals who do not form a primary attachment within the early sensitive period are unable to recover, however, in the study of romanian orphans, one third recovered well therefore privation alone cannot explain negative outcomes.
Therefore, aggressive behaviour with other children would be expected, because the child’s parents have failed to form a stable mother-child relationship in his home environment. Infants, like Calum and his sister, who are malnourished may also experience a condition known as ‘non-organic failure to thrive’. This refers to the child’s weight, height and development falling significantly below age-appropriate ranges, without apparent organic cause. Even with treatment, the long-term consequences can include continued growth problems, retardation and socio-emotional deficits (Wallace, 1996). All these factors will have combined to make Calum that which he has become.
Although this research has helped many psychologists (Erickson et al, Everett waters) with their experiments this one may not be very valid, because the results may not apply to infants with different cultures and beliefs, therefore we cannot generalize the results as it was only tested on middle-class US children. Another fault in the experiment was that it didn’t take into account the extraneous variables which may have
According to the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis, breaking the maternal bond with the child during the early stages of its life is likely to have serious effects on its intellectual, social and emotional development. Procedure: Bowlby interviewed 44 adolescents who were referred to a child protection program in London because of stealing- i.e. they were thieves. Bowlby selected another group of 44 children to act as ‘controls’. N.b.
If at any point they failed, they would see this as a big mistake and give up and have a lack of motivation. It can also be argued that working class children do not get the support of their parents, this is because many of the parents believe that they survived without an education, so believe that there children can do the same. Working class families can also lack in support in terms of if the child fails a particular exam, they would not give them positive feed back on how they could improve they would improve. Whereas, it can be argued that higher class families have more motivation and the parents also give the support to the children that is needed. This would have a positive influence on the child’s education as it would give them hope and not give them an opportunity of giving up.
Moreover, they don’t value themselves as having been let down and thus, do not develop a positive internal working model for how relationships work and function. In Bowlby’s ’44 Juvenile Thieves Study’ investigated whether problems later in life can be explained in terms of maternal deprivation. He collected data through interviews of 44 emotionally disturbed thieves and a control group of 44 emotionally disturbed teenagers (with no record of theft) and asked what their upbringing was like, particularly focusing on any separation from their mother during their first 5 years of age. He found that 39% of the focus group had been separated from their mothers for 6 months or more before the age of 5 and Bowlby claimed this would have disrupted the children’s ability to form attachment bonds and thus maternal deprivation can lead to problems with future relationships as the children struggle to trust people after being let down by their primary caregiver and are more independent and so possibly prefer to be alone. A practical application for Bowlby’s findings is that there should be no institutional care for children and if possible
Direct Quotation: bell hooks says, “Being hurt by parenting adults rarely alters a child’s desire to be loved and be loved by them [parents]. Among grown-ups who were wounded in childhood, the desire to love and be loved by uncaring parents persists, even when there is a clear acceptance of the reality that is love will never be forthcoming” (30). Paraphrase: According to bell hook, when children are hurt by their parents their opinion on love rarely change. But when children grow up, even when they accept reality, they are wounded from these acts and they still carry a desire to be loved. (30).
The purpose of this paper is to critique Zinsmeister’s article, and explore its potential flaws and strengths. Summary In this article, Zinsmeister argues that parent’s divorce causes permanent damage to children that affects them the rest of their lives. He claims that divorce “has lasting significance on [children’s] later views of love, families, and life” (Zinsmeister 158). He outlines the ways in which divorce negatively affects children’s schooling, social interactions, mental health and even sexual identity and later marriages. He also claims that an unhappy household due to continued parental conflict causes less damage to children than divorce does, and thus preserving the marriage solely for the sake of the children is the best option.
Absentee of fathers also affects their children's opportunity. Children in college whose parents gets a divorce can get impaired by fathers behavior and fear of sudden lack of interaction, tend to see decrease of grade, lowering over all average some children get so overwhelmed and settle for easier career. Another way absentee of fathers can affect the opportunity of a child are economically. As a child