Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 15:34, 27 April 2006

John Bowlby

Bowlby's Study of Maternal deprivation

Aims: To investigate the effects of maternal deprivation on people. To see whether deliquents had suffered deprivation.

Procedures: Bowlby took two groups of 44 males. One group consisted solely of thieves, the other contained males that had committed other crimes (non-thieves). He asked them to state whether they had suffered maternal deprivation and for how long.

Findings: Bowlby found that 17 of the thieves had suffered a separation for 6 months or more before the age of 5 years. Only 2 of the non-thieves had suffered this. 14 of the thieves had affectionless psychopathy. 12 of these had been deprived.

Conclusion: Affectionless psychopaths show little concern ofr others and are unable to form relationships. Bowlby believed that this resulted from deprivation. the study appears to support the claim that maternal deprivation can lead to affectionless psychopathy.

Evaluation: The sample was NOT REPRESENTATIVE of the general population. The data collected was RETROSPECTIVE. This meant that bowlby was asking the participants to look back and recall separations. These memories may not be accurate. Boiwlby designed and conducted the experiment himself. This may have lead to BIAS ANALYSIS of the results. There was only a correlation between the two findings, and CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION. It is also not possible to find the direction of causation. This study appears to support Bowlby's claim, but it may also be said that it only shows that children who have been deprivaed are MORE LIKELY TO BECOME THIEVES than any other criminal.

miz opel

Remember that every investigation / experiment is theory-driven. Denying that is possibly much more harmful, than not sticking exactly to what is presently considered good experimental design. In my opinion J. Bowlby has done great work. Even if it is as you say, that the investigation resulted in finding that deprived children are more likely to become thieves, this is what I consider a valuable outcome. What are you expecting? - A single cause determining a persons character and behaviour, regardless of all other influences?
Even Physics is dependent on probabilities not certainties, leave alone human behaviour. 84.166.80.157 15:59, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Bibliography

Someone seems to have the idea that if a book mentions Bowlby (correctly or incorrectly), then it qualifies to be in a Misplaced Pages bibliography. I have deleted (for the second time) a vanity book which has been inserted in the bibliography, but is not a good reference on John Bowlby (or his work). The other references seem appropriate and should remain.

I disagree and so have put the reference back. The text is an edited text which describes a treatment methodology based on Attachment Theory and which relies on the work of Sir Bowlby. Since the text was endorsed by Dr. Dan Siegel of the UCLA Medical School (and Sir Richard Bowlby, Sir John's son) it is not a vanity book and should remain.

Nonsense. That it is a "treatment methodology" based on "Attachment Theory" doesn't mean it has anything to do with John Bowlby personally (which is what this article is supposed to be about). (Indeed, your reference to "Sir Bowlby" displays an ignorance of British forms of address; moreover, it shows an ignorance about John Bowlby's biography -- he was never a knight or a baronet.) Endorsement of a book, especially by someone like Sir Richard who has no credentials whatever in the field, doesn't make the tome any more relevant, and doesn't make the publisher less of a subsidy publisher (i.e., vanity press). Putting this reference here, more so as the first item in the bibliography, is shameless self-promotion and degrades Misplaced Pages. It should go. I will keep deleting it as long as you keep adding it. 206.81.65.234 06:23, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Since the treatment is based on John Bowlby's theory and materials it is an example of how theory is related to practice; just like a bio of A. Beck's theory should inlcude reference to CBT. Dr. Siegel has ample credentials (Developing Mind being one of his substantial publications). The fact that your comments are the same as those of Mercer in another context suggests you might be one of her advocates...but maybe not. The publisher is not a vanity press, so your comments are clearly meant to defame. The biblio. is in alpha order...and is neither self-promotion nor degrading and you should continue your comments but leave it as is per Wiki procedures and policy. You always have the right to have this dispute mediated if you wish.

There already is a link to "Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy", just above the bibliography, that serves the purpose you state. Putting "incidental" references in a bibliography such as this is a disservice to Misplaced Pages readers, who have a right to expect references (especially hard-to-find ones in libraries) to be worth the effort to look at. Anyone interested solely in Bowlby is going to be frustrated with this reference. (And really, "Woods & Barnes" is not a subsidy publisher?) This reference is advertising. Consistent with Wiki efforts against spam, I'm still deleting it. I suggest you leave it off. You always have the right to have this dispute mediated if you wish; I'll happily respond to a mediator. 206.81.65.234 15:34, 27 April 2006 (UTC)