Outline and evaluate research into the effects of failure to form attachment (privation).

Privation can be caused following the death of both parents (most likely during times of war),
resulting in children being raised in institutions or it can be caused by extreme neglect in which
children are raised in isolation.
Research into privation tends to involve carefully studying individuals who have experienced a
privated infancy. These include case studies of tragically neglected children and longitudinal studies
of institutionalised children, such as orphans. One study into effects of privation was the case of
Genie( Curtiss, 1989). Genie was locked in her room by her father until she was 13 years old, having
no outside contact. When she was found she had physical problems, as she couldnt even stand
erect; no language abilities, as she couldnt speak and poor social skills, as she wasnt able to
interract with others. Education led to the recovery of much ability but language and social skills
remained poor. She apparently showed desinterest in other people. This case study suggests that due
to her extreme early emotional privation, she coudnt recover later and have a normal life.
However, Genie was discovered well past Bowlbys sentisitve age for effective attachment, which
might be the cause of her lack of recovery.
Another study into effects of privation, but which showed different results reffers to Czech twins
(Koluchova, 1976). The twins spent the first seven years of their lives locked up in a cellar by a
stepmother, as their own mother died when they were infants. When they were discovered they had
physical and linguistic problems. At age 9 they were adopted by a normal family and by age 14 had
near normal intellectual and social functioning. By the age of 20, they were of above average
intelligence and had excellent relationships with the members of their foster family. This suggests
that even after their early emotional privation, they were able to recover. This might be due to the
fact that they were discovered at a young enough age in comparison to Genie. However, their
recovery might happen due to the fact that they were put into a loving home, whereas Genie
continued to lack a stable, loving home.
As the research above is based on case studies, there are some constraints in terms of
methodological issues. Allthough case studies permit investigation of otherwise unethical situations,
for example excessive testing which children had to go through, they also have some limitations. One
limitation that can be applied to both case studies is that they have low pupulation validity. This is
because each individual has unique characteristics it is unknown whether Genie was retarded from
birth, or whether she formed an attachment with her mother. The Czech twins may have formed
important attachments to each other. This is a criticism because therefore data collected cannot be
generalised to wider population.