Edexcel A2 Psychology - Child Psychology: Bowlby's 44 Juvenile Thieves

Bowlby:

· The aim of the study was to establish whether there was a link between maternal deprivation and delinquency.

· 44 children who had previously stolen and 44 other children who had not stolen (to act as a control) took part in the study. All of the children attended the London child guidance clinic. Data was collected from case histories, interviews and psychometric testing. These methods gathered different types of data and allowed the findings of each to be cross checked. The psychometric tests were carried out by a psychologist, and the children’s attitudes towards the tests were also recorded. Case histories were gathered by a social worker. Both the social worker and psychologist gave their findings to Bowlby, who then interviewed both the child and their mother. From these results a conference followed and a diagnosis was formed.

· The children were split into different groups; A – normal, B – depressed, C – circular, D – hypothermic, E – affectionless and F – schizoid. The main focus of the study was on group E – affectionless, as this type was defined as having no normal affection towards anyone, no sense of responsibility or shame. The only data used in the study was from case histories and interviews, as it was deemed that the children…