Privation is the failure to form an attachment, this may be due to extremely poor parenting or prolonged stays away from a potential attachment figure e.g. in a hospital. One famous study on extreme privation is the case study of Genie; Genie was locked in a room by her father until she was 13 1/2 years old; she never fully recovered and lacked social responsiveness. Her lack of recovery may be due to the fact that she was found beyond the sensitive period or because of the physical deprivation she experienced. Another well-known case study on privation is the czech twins; the czech twins spent the first 7 years of their life locked up by their stepmother and they were unable to talk. After the age of 7 they were then cared for by two sisters and by the age of 14 they were socially and intellectually stable and had no problems with relationships and intelligence.
The two studies both demonstrate privation, however, they both differ in terms of recovery from the privation. The negative effects of privation were more easily reversed with the czech twins than genie; this could have been due to the fact they went to a stable loving home which gave them sufficient emotional care. They were also younger when discovered, this may also contribute to the ease of recovery. The czech twins were together; this means they could recover better socially as they were not alone unlike Genie. Genie could have possibly been born