A similar case study was done on two Czechoslovakian twins who underwent similar experiences to Genie, being locked in a cellar for five-and-a-half years. Unlike Genie once they had received special treatment for their under development they developed normally and formed normal adult lives and were perfectly happy with an adopted family. This suggests that it is not the absence of a mother figure rather a lack of any kind of attachment. The Czech twins had each other to form bonds with and developed perfectly normally, and when put into a situation where the right care was provided they were fine.
This shows like the Goldfarb finding that as long as adequate care is provided and at least one main attachment is formed that children can develop perfectly normally. Hodges and Tizzard carried out a study on ex-institution children compared with children who had never been institutionalised. They broke the children down into three categories, those that had been returned to their original families after spending time in the institution, those who had gone on to be adopted and those who had never spent time in a n institution.
In regards to family relationships they found little difference between those that had never been into an institution and those who had been adopted, those who had gone back to their original families had very poor family relations and suffered difficulties. This suggested again that as long as adequate care was eventually provided the children would develop normally and the ones that were returned back to the cause of the stress they underwent were not able to cope maybe because of the memories of before they went into care rather than the actual institution.
Hodges and Tizzard also found that both the adopted and returned children differed from the children who had spent no time in an institution, in their social relations outside the family. They tended to socialise with lots of people yet denied all of them the opportunity to get close and form string bonds. This suggests that the first bond we make with our mother is a basis for all other relationships and as Bowlby’s theory suggested; if this bond is left unformed or broken the child will suffer.
In conclusion it is still left undecided whether it is our relationship with our mother that is the most important and whether the outcome of this relationship can alter all aspects of a child’s life and have long term consequences. However so many women go out to work and leave their children in nurseries or with child minders and many of these children lead healthy lives and some benefit from these situations as it gives them more of an opportunity to socialize with other children. Also there are many studies which suggest that it does not necessarily have to be the mother which provides this important bond.
Studies like the Hodges and Tizzard suggest the opposite and with reference to day care the child may initially experience difficulties with being left but once they learn that mum will return to pick them up and she is not leaving them forever like some of the children in the institutions, they are perfectly fine. It could indeed be that combination of both a relationship with a mother is needed combined with one with fathers, siblings, other family members and familiar figures and indeed peers.