child

From Bowlby's foundational work to modern neuroscience, decades of evidence reveal how maternal deprivation and abuse shape children's brains, behavior, and life outcomes — and what can be done about Defining the problem: absence, neglect, and abuse “Motherless love” refers not only to the physical absence of a mother, but also to the emotional absence that can occur through neglect, abuse, or untreated mental illness. Research distinguishes between maternal death, maternal a