Privation (Edexcel A-Level Psychology): Revision Notes
Privation
What is privation?
Privation occurs when a child has never formed an attachment bond with a caregiver. This represents the complete absence of an attachment figure from birth or early infancy. Privation differs from deprivation, where an attachment has been formed but is then broken.
Understanding the Difference:
While both privation and deprivation can have serious developmental consequences, they represent fundamentally different experiences:
- Privation = Never forming an attachment (complete absence)
- Deprivation = Forming an attachment that is then broken (loss)
Privation typically occurs in cases of extreme neglect or when children are raised in poor-quality institutional care. Research shows that privation can have severely damaging effects on a child's emotional, social and cognitive development. However, it remains unclear whether these effects are permanent or can be ameliorated through intervention.
Case studies of privation
Genie (Curtiss, 1977)
Case Study: Genie - Extreme Social Isolation
Background and discovery
In 1970, authorities discovered a 13-year-old girl who had experienced extreme privation throughout her childhood. Genie had been confined to a small room, restrained to a potty chair or cot, with minimal interaction and only basic items (a cot, potty chair and cotton reels). Her parents claimed she had been diagnosed with mental retardation as a baby, using this to justify her confinement.
Genie's father repeatedly physically abused her, beating her for making sounds. Her partially blind mother was also abused. Following the discovery, Genie's father took his own life, whilst her mother avoided conviction.
Initial assessment and progress
When admitted to Los Angeles Children's Hospital, Genie presented with:
- Severe emotional and intellectual delays
- Virtual mutism and awkward gait
- Serious malnourishment, frequent scratching and biting of herself
- A ring of callus on her buttocks from prolonged restraint
- Inability to chew properly (had been fed only baby food)
- Tendency to hold solid food in her mouth until dissolved
Within days of hospitalisation, Genie showed remarkable initial improvement. She began urinating independently and formed attachments with staff members. Over several months, she started playing and producing words. However, her language development remained severely limited - her grammar never progressed beyond that of a toddler.
Later outcomes
Unfortunately, Genie experienced multiple foster placements and eventually regressed, returning to silence and emotional withdrawal.
Ethical Concerns in the Genie Case
The Genie case raises important ethical questions about research with vulnerable participants. Initially fostered by researcher Jean Butler (who was developing Genie's linguistic ability), concerns arose that Butler's care might conflict with her research interests. Genie was subsequently removed and placed with David Rigler, one of her therapists and head of the research team.
Genie underwent extensive cognitive testing, brain scans and experimental treatments. Some argued she was over-tested, which was inappropriate for such a vulnerable child. When project funding ceased and grant extensions were denied, the Rigler family could no longer care for Genie. She returned to her biological mother's care, but this arrangement failed. Genie then cycled through multiple foster homes before becoming a ward of the state.
Debate continues about whether researchers prioritised their career ambitions over Genie's welfare, and whether they were appropriately positioned to provide both therapeutic and foster care.
The Czech twins (Koluchová, 1972)
Case Study: Czech Twins - Successful Recovery from Privation
Background
Andrei and Vanya were twin boys from Czechoslovakia whose mother died shortly after their birth. After a year in institutional care, they returned to their father's care at 18 months old. However, their father remarried and his new wife proved cruel, locking the twins in a small, dark room for extended periods.
Discovery and initial state
When discovered at age six, the twins were:
- Malnourished and mentally delayed
- Estimated to have IQs around 40 (average IQ is 100)
- Unable to speak clearly due to extremely limited language exposure
Recovery process
The twins were placed in a children's home for rehabilitation, then fostered by two sisters who provided exceptional care. Their recovery proved remarkable:
- By age 11, they had developed normal speech
- By age 14, they had achieved average IQ scores
- By age 20, both were in relationships and had secured employment
Significance of the Czech Twins Case
The rehabilitative success of the twins was attributed largely to the high-quality care they received after discovery. This case suggests that privation effects may be reversible when intervention occurs early enough and care quality is sufficiently high.
Bulldogs Bank children (Freud & Dann, 1951)
Case Study: Bulldogs Bank Children - Peer Attachment in Extreme Conditions
Background
Anna Freud and Sophie Dann studied six children who had lost their parents during the Nazi occupation and were raised together by prisoners at a concentration camp in Theresienstadt. The care provided was inconsistent and limited, making attachment formation difficult within such an extreme environment.
Initial presentation
These children, who became known as the Bulldogs Bank children, were referred to a clinic for treatment around age three. Initially, they showed aggression towards staff and had formed unusually intense bonds with one another.
Outcomes
Despite their traumatic early experiences, the remaining children appeared to have developed normal adult behaviours following treatment. Notably, one child later required psychiatric care as an adult.
Significance: Peer Attachments as Protective Factors
This case demonstrates that children raised together in adverse conditions may form attachments with one another, which could buffer some effects of privation from adult caregivers.
Hodges and Tizard (1989)
Research Study: Long-term Effects of Institutional Care
Study design
Hodges and Tizard conducted a longitudinal study of 65 children raised in institutional care with a policy preventing attachment formation. The institution had high staff turnover, ensuring that no long-term relationships developed between children and caregivers. This design meant researchers could be reasonably confident that any long-term effects observed resulted from privation rather than deprivation, as close relationships were actively discouraged.
Follow-up and outcomes
When the children reached four years old:
- 24 were adopted into families
- 15 returned to their biological families
- 26 remained in institutional care
The children were followed up at various ages, with parents and teachers rating their behaviour. At age 16, the adopted children had formed attachments with their adoptive parents and reported being happy. In contrast, those returned to biological parents struggled to show affection and formed poor relationships.
Relationships outside the family
The findings diverged for relationships formed outside the family unit. Both adopted and returned children found it difficult to form friendships. They were attention-seeking and indiscriminate in friendship selection. This disparity between home and school relationships could be explained by the nature of the relationships: adoptive parents desperately wanted to adopt, whilst biological parents felt ambivalent about their returning children and faced economic hardship.
Significance: Differential Recovery in Different Contexts
This study suggests that the effects of early privation on forming relationships with caregivers may be reversible through adoption, but difficulties in peer relationships may persist.
Institutional care research
The English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) study
Michael Rutter and Edmund Sonuga-Barke lead the ERA Team, conducting a longitudinal study examining the development of Romanian orphans adopted into UK families. A random sample of 165 Romanian orphans raised in severely deprived institutional conditions from the first weeks of life were divided into groups based on adoption timing:
- Adopted before six months old
- Adopted between six months and two years old
Their development was compared to 52 adopted children who had not experienced institutional care.
Key findings
Despite being developmentally delayed at six months old, the Romanian adoptees caught up in weight, height, head circumference and cognitive ability to match the English adoptees by age 11. However, Romanian children adopted after six months continued to experience problems including:
- Overactivity and difficulties forming attachments
- Social interaction difficulties requiring psychological services
These difficulties persisted at age 15, particularly for those with attachment disorders. The study concluded that early privation experienced by Romanian orphans appeared to have prolonged effects only if adoption occurred after six months of age.
Critical Finding: Timing of Intervention Matters
This research demonstrates that the timing of intervention matters considerably. Earlier adoption (before six months) appeared to prevent long-term negative effects, whilst later adoption still resulted in persistent difficulties.
The six-month threshold appears to be a critical period for intervention in cases of institutional privation.
Evaluation of privation research
Methodological limitations of case studies
Case studies of privated children provide valuable insights into developmental outcomes that could never be created experimentally for ethical reasons. These studies often employ multiple methods - self-reports, observations, cognitive tests and EEG recordings - which can be triangulated to ensure valid findings.
However, case studies of privated children have substantial methodological weaknesses:
Retrospective nature
Major Limitation: Cannot Verify Early Experiences
The most notable limitation is that case studies are retrospective. Researchers cannot accurately determine what actually happened to these children throughout their development before discovery. Information about their history typically comes from family accounts, friends' reports or speculation about their treatment.
This creates uncertainty about:
- The exact conditions in which they were raised
- Whether they were truly privated or could form some attachments
- Whether they were then deprived of those attachments
For example, with Genie, researchers could not determine whether her developmental difficulties were congenital or resulted from her treatment. A sleep spindle study recorded bursts of activity typically associated with congenital retardation. However, researcher Susan Curtiss claimed that Genie's developmental progress after discovery would have been uncharacteristic of someone born with such difficulties.
Similarly, the Bulldogs Bank children received transient care from prisoners of war, making the extent of their privation unclear. Perhaps their bonds with one another buffered privation effects.
The Czech twins received high-quality care at a children's home following their mother's death, only suffering neglect after 18 months of age. Therefore, the care they received prior to their neglect, and their bonds with each other, may have ameliorated privation effects.
Lack of generalisability
Case studies of children who have suffered privation are rare and unique by definition, limited to one person. This means findings from such studies lack generalisability. We cannot be certain whether the effects of privation observed in one individual would apply to anyone else in such extreme circumstances.
Confounding variables
Several factors are identified as affecting the outcomes of children who have suffered privation, including:
- Age at discovery
- Quality of relationships formed after being discovered
- Availability of other individuals to bond with
- Temperament of the child
Challenges in Adoption Studies
Studies of institutionalised children present additional challenges for establishing privation effects on later development. Children who are adopted compared to those who remain in institutional care cannot be matched on every characteristic likely to affect later development. Specifically, the reason for placement in institutional care or circumstances around adoption matter.
In Hodges and Tizard's research, the children selected for adoption may have been more socially adept and emotionally stable compared to those who remained in institutions or returned to biological families. This may explain why adopted children formed better relationships with their adoptive parents. Additionally, researchers did not account for the temperament of the child; children selected for adoption may have been more socially adept and emotionally stable compared to those remaining or returned.
Can negative effects of privation be reversed?
Research investigating the long-term effects of privation helps us understand whether these effects can be reversed and under what conditions recovery may be possible.
Age of intervention
Age appears to be a notable factor. The younger the child when rehabilitated or placed into foster care, the better the outcomes in terms of reversing negative effects. The Czech twins were discovered at age six, whilst Genie was discovered at age 13, which may account for the twins' recovery whilst Genie's recovery was limited. This also explains why Romanian orphans adopted before six months of age recovered from early privation compared to those adopted after six months into the UK. The length of the privation period appears to influence the extent to which early trauma can be reversed.
Nature of isolation
A further factor explaining differential recovery is the nature of children's isolation. The Bulldogs Bank children and Czech twins had other attachment figures - transient adults or other children with whom bonds could be formed. Genie was held in almost complete isolation. This could explain why the negative effects Genie suffered were not reversible compared to other privated children.
Quality of subsequent care
The quality of care following a period of privation can ameliorate negative effects caused by early trauma. The Czech twins were cared for by two sisters who provided excellent emotional, social and intellectual support to aid their recovery. Hodges and Tizard demonstrated that when children were adopted into loving families, they fared better than those restored to biological parents who may have been reluctant to have their child returned and rated them less favourably than children who had not been fostered.
Key Points to Remember:
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Privation refers to the complete absence of an attachment figure, occurring when a child never forms an attachment bond with a caregiver.
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Case studies (Genie, Czech twins, Bulldogs Bank children) demonstrate that privation can have severe effects on emotional, social and cognitive development, but outcomes vary considerably between individuals.
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The reversibility of privation effects depends on several factors:
- Age at intervention - earlier is better
- Quality of subsequent care - high-quality care improves outcomes
- Nature of isolation - complete isolation vs. having some attachment figures
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Methodological limitations of case studies include:
- Their retrospective nature (cannot confirm exact early experiences)
- Lack of generalisability (unique cases)
- Presence of confounding variables (temperament, selection bias in adoption studies)
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Research by Rutter and Sonuga-Barke (ERA study) suggests that adoption before six months can prevent long-term negative effects of institutional privation, whilst later adoption may result in persistent difficulties with attachment and social interaction.