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SEVERE DEPRIVATION IN TWINS: A CASE STUDY
Author(s) -
Koluchová Jarmila
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1972.tb01124.x
Subject(s) - social deprivation , psychology , developmental psychology , period (music) , social isolation , maternal deprivation , psychiatry , physics , acoustics , economics , economic growth
SUMMARY The author reports an unusual case of deprivation. Monozygotic twin boys were reared from age 18 months to 7 yr in social isolation by a psychopathic stepmother and an inadequate father. On discovery, their mental age level was 3 yr, hilt after treatment, a period in a children's home and approximately 2 yr in a good foster‐home, they had made remarkable progress and now appear about average for their age. Forensic aspects of the case are discussed, as arc features of the foster‐home placement, and the significance of twins hip in the recovery. Residual effects of deprivation will be studied by an extended follow‐up. Because of the criminal behaviour of the stepmother the children were exposed to living conditions which resembled those of an experimental situation. From the human standpoint, of course, it was an extremely cruel and unrepeatable experiment. From the scientific point of view, however, it was also a very valuable our. It will be important, therefore, to follow up the ease over a long period, in the hope of contributing to a solution of some of the problems associated with mental deprivation.