The evidence for the permanently disturbing effects of mother child separation

Incidence of Parental Loss in Children With Depressed Mood*

“…As mentioned earlier, several investigators (e.g. O'Connor, 1956;Ainsworth, 1962;Yarrow, 1963) have stressed the fact that the term "maternal deprivation" has been used to encompass a wide range of experiences. The histories of many of our depressive subjects dramatically demonstrate that the loss of a mother frequently exposes the child to further trauma of a most serious nature.…”

Some Factors Affecting the Speech Development of Imbecile Children in an Institution

“…marshals much evidence to indicate that long residence in an institution may inhibit the cognitive development of children. Criticisms of these investigations, reviewed by O'Connor (1956) and by Clarke and Clarke (1958), centre mainly around statistical considerations, around the concept of I Q_. constancy (both matters which are beyond the scope of this paper), and around the reasons suggested by Bowlby and others for this retardation of development.…”

“…To account for retardation of the verbal development of institutional children, a widely held theory is that it is brought about by the traumatic removal from the love and security of the family group {psychological deprivation: Goldfarb, 1945-46) and especially from mother {maternal deprivation: Bowlby, 1951), which follows placement in an institution. This view, applied to speech and language development, may be fairly criticized (O'Connor, 1956) as an over-simplification of what must be a complex phenomenon. This paper represents a modest attempt to relate present verbal functioriing to certain of the variables which operated prior to entry of the child into the institution.…”

“…This view, applied to speech and language development, may be fairly criticized (O'Connor, 1956) as an over-simplification of what must be a complex phenomenon. This paper represents a modest attempt to relate present verbal functioriing to certain of the variables which operated prior to entry of the child into the institution.…”

Thirty Years of Child Psychology: A Selective Review

“…With one or two exceptions his thesis was at first scarcely criticized. O'Connor (1956), however, pointed out that the concept of deprivation espoused by Bowlby was by no means clear, embracing as it did two distinct theories. The first stated that the formation of ego and superego through continuous relation with one person, uninterrupted by separation, is important for the formation of character.…”