The maternal deprivation thesis of Bowlby(1965) suggested that it is essential for the mental health of an infant and young child to experience a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with the mother (or permanent mother substitute).

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• The maternal deprivation thesis of Bowlby(1965)
  suggested that it is essential for the mental
  health of an infant and young child to experience
  a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with
  the mother (or permanent mother substitute).
• Subsequent work supports the idea that it is
  lack of one or more close bonds, rather than
  maternal deprivation as such, which is a crucial
  factor in disturbance.
• Perfectly healthy individuals may form their
  attachments to their fathers, or non-family
  individuals. Also healthy development is possible
  in arrangements, such as the kibbutz, where
  social arrangements do not sanction the mother
  centered family as the norm.

Bowlby, John.
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Bowlby(1944) Forty four juvenile thieves.

• Aim To test maternal deprivation by looking at
  habitual delinquency
• Procedure Children parents attend guidance
  groups re early childhood experiences. 44
  thieves vs. 44 emotionally disturbed.
• Findings Affectionless apathy.
• Many before the age of 2 had been in foster
  homes/hospitals.
• Conclusions Affectionless psychopathy- caused by
  attachment bonds being disturbed in early life.

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Hodges Tizard (1989)Long term effects of
Privation.

• Aim To investigate long term effects of
  institutionalisation.
• Procedure Longitudinal,followed 65 children
  placed in care before the age of 4 mths. Some
  stayed in institution, some went home and some
  were adopted.
• Findings Early follow up between 4-8 found
  adopted children doing the best in virtually
  every way when compared to those returned home.
• At 16, 23 adopted and 11 restored were tested.
  The adopted children closely bonded, the restored
  children were not so much.
• Conclusions Adopted children did well at home
  vs. the restored children.
• Criticisms Only some children took part in final
  statistics. Cannot summarise that one variable
  causes another because this is a natural
  experiment and the IV was manipulated as such,
  and the participants were not randomly selected.

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• Early Attachment in Humans
• Some researchers wanted to know why the quality
  of attachment between human children and their
  parents seemed to vary so much in quality.
• Mary Ainsworth devised a test called the Strange
  Situation to examine what factors might
  contribute to this variation.

• The following sequence of events was observed
  through a one-way mirror
• A mother and infant (12 to 18 months of age)
  enter a room with toys in it.
• A stranger enters the room.
• Mother leaves the room.
• Mother returns to the room.
• Mother and the stranger leave the room.
• The stranger returns to the room.
• Mother returns to the room again.

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How attachment develops

• Schaffer and Emerson (1964) undertook a study of
  Scottish families with young babies.
• They first visited the families when the babies
  were in their first year, then again eighteen
  months later.
• During the visits the mother was interviewed
  about babys behaviour with people they had
  contact with. Also observations were made about
  the babys pattern of attachment, through the
  measure of separation anxiety and fear of
  strangers.

• They found that during the first six months they
  were sociable to everyone who interacted with
  them.
• At seven months 10 had five or more attachments,
  although the
• majority now preferred their main caregiver.
• At ten months 60 have multiple attachments
  rising to 87 at 18
• months. Half were mostly attached to their
  mother, a 1/3rd
• their father and the rest were attached to
  siblings or grandparents.

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Stage Theory Of Attachment.
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• Attachment
• Before the mid-twentieth century, developmental
  psychologists believed that feeding was the
  primary cause of attachment between mother and
  child.
• Harlows studies with newborn rhesus monkeys
  suggest that warmth and touch was even more
  important that feeding.
• He called this essential close physical
  interaction contact comfort