attachment 11 - romanian orphans (rutter)

Question 1

why were there so many romanian orphans in the 1980s/1990s?

Answer 1

the president of romania instructed that all women must have 5 children. a lot of families could not afford this and so many of the children were taken into institutions which were usually in very poor conditions

Question 2

how many romanian orphans adopted by british parents did rutter at al study?

Answer 2

165

Question 3

why did rutter et al study romanian orphans adopted by british parents?

Answer 3

to test if good care could make up for bad experiences in the orphanages

Question 4

what 3 types of development was assessed by rutter et al?

Answer 4

physical, cognitive and emotional development

Question 5

physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at what 4 ages in the children?

Answer 5

4,6,11,15

Question 6

what was rutter’s control group?

Answer 6

52 british children who were also adopted

Question 7

how many of the romanian orphans were malnourished and mentally retarded when they arrived in the uk?

Answer 7

around half

Question 8

what was the rate in which the romanian orphans developed determined by?

Answer 8

the age they arrived in the uk

Question 9

the romanian orphans seemed to be okay if they arrived under the age of what?

Answer 9

six months

Question 10

romanian children adopted after six months old showed signs of what?

Answer 10

disinhibited attachment

Question 11

how many children did zena et al assess?

Answer 11

95

Question 12

how old were the children that zena et al assessed?

Answer 12

12-31 months

Question 13

what percent of their lives did the children zena et al assess spend in institutional care?

Answer 13

90%

Question 14

what was the control group in zena et al’s study?

Answer 14

50 children who had never lived in an institution

Question 15

what technique did zena et al use to assess attachment?

Answer 15

the strange situation

Question 16

how many of zena et al’s control group were securely attached compared to the institution group?

Answer 16

control were 74% whereas institution were 19%

Question 17

name the two effects of insitutionalisation

Answer 17

disinhibited attachment and mental retardation

Question 18

describe disinhibited attachment and rutter’s explanation of it

Answer 18

they are extremely friendly to everyone they meet and do not experience stranger anxiety as normal babies do. rutter explained that this was due to multiple care givers during the sensitive period

Question 19

in rutter’s study most children showed signs of what when they arrived in the uk?

Answer 19

mental retardation

Question 20

orphans adopted by six months caught up with the control group in terms of intelligence by what age?

Answer 20

four

Question 21

how do studies on romanian orphans have immensely valuable practical uses?

Answer 21

these studies have enhanced our understanding of how institutions can affect children. we can take better care of children in care and ensure only a few care givers are involved in a child’s life (key workers).

Question 22

how do the romanian orphan studies have high internal validity?

Answer 22

the children were taken to the institution very young. other orphan studies have involved children who had experienced trauma in their lives. this made it hard to observe the effects of being institutionalised as there could have been confounding variables such as the effects of neglect.

Question 23

how are the results of romanian orphan studies non- generalisable to other institutions?

Answer 23

romanian orphanages were not typical. they were badly run and in poor condition. not all institutions the same.