Emotional Deprivation

Abstract

Koluchová’s case study describes one of the most severe cases of childhood deprivation on record within the psychological literature. It is a brief, descriptive paper about a pair of Czechoslovakian identical (monozygotic) twin boys who were ‘reared from age 18 months to 7 years in social isolation by a psychopathic stepmother and an inadequate father’ (p.114). The story is distressing, and shot through with human tragedy despite the author’s somewhat bald account. However, Koluchová manages to convey a sense of optimism about the development of the boys’ lives subsequent to the period of deprivation. The author was part of a multi-disciplinary team which was involved with the children when they were admitted to hospital.