Privation

Privation is the absence or lack of basic necessities.^[1] The term can be used in a psychological context, often referring to a lack of relationships, or a philosophical context, where vital qualities are absent.

Privation in psychology

In psychology, privation occurs when a child has no opportunity to form a relationship with a parent figure, or when such relationship is distorted, due to their treatment.^[2] It is different to deprivation, which occurs when an established relationship is severed.^[3] It is understood that privation can produce social, emotional and intellectual problems for children; however, how inevitable such problems become as a result of privation, and the extent to which they can be reversed, remains an issue of debate among psychologists.^[4]

Privation in philosophy

In philosophy, privation may refer to the absence of a necessary quality in the universe.

For example, as part of his theodicy, Augustine denied the existence of evil as its own entity; rather, he described evil as a privation, or going wrong, of good, privatio boni.^[5]

Jewish philosopher Maimonides argued that privation is not necessarily a bad thing: it would be trivial to regard the privation of hair – baldness – as an evil.

References

1. "The Free Dictionary - Privation". Retrieved 10 September 2011.
2. Russell, Julia; Jarvis, Matt (2003). Angles on Applied Psychology. Nelson Thornes. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-7487-7259-9.
3. Brain, Christine; Mukherji, Penny (7 June 2005). Understanding child psychology (New ed.). Nelson Thornes. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-0-7487-9084-5.
4. Jarvis, Matt; Chandler, Emma (2001). Angles on Child Psychology. Nelson Thornes. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7487-5975-0.
5. Menn, Stephen (2002). Descartes and Augustine. Cambridge University Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-521-01284-3.