A - Romanian Orphan Study and Institutionalisation Flashcards
what did Rutter claim
that what Bowlby described as deprivation was actually privation
what is institutionalisation
result of being in institutional care
what did Rutter say
longer privation = worse outcome
what does PIES stand for (effect of institutionalisation)
Physical - stunted growth
Intellectual - lower IQ (rutter)
Emotional - insecure attachment disorder (rutter)
Social - poor future parenting
BUT with good subsequent care damage limitation is possible (Koluchova twins)
what was did Rutter do in his study
longitudinal study of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in the UK
investigated the extent to which good care can make up for poor early experiences
at what 5 ages did Rutter assess physical, cognitive and emotional development
4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years
what did Rutter find in his study
- HALF Romanian orphans showed signs of delayed intellectual development, severely undernourished
- age 11 - differential rates of recovery related to age of adoption
what were the mean IQ stats Rutter found in relation to age of adoption
adopted BEFORE 6 months: IQ 102 (average)
adopted between 6months and 2years: IQ 86
adopted AFTER 2 years: IQ 77 (close to intellectual disability)
what were Rutter’s findings with emotional effects
adopted after 6 months had a disinhibited attachment style (overly familiar with all adults)
what was the Bucharest early intervention project
Zeanah et al
- 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months
- control group of 50 children never in institution
- used strange situation
- 74% of control group securely attached
- 19% of institution group securely attached, 44% disinhibited
what was Rutter’s explanation for disinhibited attachment
it was an adaptation to having multiple caregivers during the sensitive period when they were in the institution
what did Gardner research as physical effects of institutionalisation
institutionalised children were physically smaller (age for age) than controls
AO3: + why did Rutter has high internal validity
children had not suffered trauma before institutionalisation, meaning any results must be due to privation
few extraneous variable
AO3: why are longitudinal studies a bad thing
- high attrition rate
- high drop out rate and cannot use the data of dropouts
- last assessment was done at 25 max - no data after that age
+ do allow for comparisons to be drawn
AO3: why are Romanian orphanages bad to draw comparison from
conditions were so bad so cannot be generalized to ALL institutions
AO3: X why is the data socially sensitive
self fulfilling prophecy to adopted orphans that they will have low Iq
- impacts parents and carers
