THE EFFECT OF DEPRIVATION ON ADULT PERSONALITIES

The Effects Of Deprivation On Adult Personalities

In his hypothesis, Bowlby believed that an infant’s failure to attach to a primary caregiver would have long term effects. This essay will attempt to evaluate Bowlby’s deprivation hypothesis. In 1973 the leading attachment psychologist, Mary Ainsworth, pointed out that “Attachment is an affectional tie that one person forms to another person, binding them together in space, and enduring over time”. Deprivation can occur when there is insufficient opportunity for interaction with a mother figure (privation), when there is insufficient interaction with mother (masked deprivation), or when there are repeated breaches of ties with mother figures. In 1949, the World Health Organisation became concerned about the number of homeless children, or children who were growing up in institutions as a result of the war years. They commissioned Bowlby to look into this matter, and to report to them whether these children were likely to be s...