Privation

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In child psychology, privation is the absence or lack of basic necessities.^[1] 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]