Outline Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation.

A key tenet of Bowlby's Attachment Theory was the idea of monotropy: that a child has an innate need and drive to attach to his/her primary caregiver, usually the mother. Bowlby posited that monotropy was so essential for a child's healthy development that maternal deprivation (i.e. insufficient psychological contact with the mother, either due to separation or failure to form an attachment) could result in long-term social, cognitive and emotional deficits such as deliquency, lower intelligence, aggressive behaviour, depression or affectionless psychopathy (where the child shows little regard for the consequences of their actions and the feelings of others).

Answered by Roisin D. Psychology tutor

4747 Views

See similar Psychology A Level tutors

Related Psychology A Level answers

All answers ▸

Explain the differences between procedural memory and episodic memory.


What is the difference between a one-tailed and two-tailed hypothesis? How Would you operationalise a hypothesis?


Describe and evaluate Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development (16 Marks)


What is Bandura's (1973) Social Learning Theory?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences