Attachment- Effects of Institutionalisation

Question 1

What is privation?

Answer 1

Where a child has never had an attachment to its mother or caregiver

Question 2

What is deprivation?

Answer 2

Where an attachment was once formed but is now broken

Question 3

How did Rutter criticise Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 3

Bowlby used the term deprivation to refer to both privation and deprivation

Question 4

How did Curtiss show the serious effects of maternal privation?

Answer 4

The case of Genie Wiley where she experienced extreme cruelty from her parents, she was discovered at 13 and she was physically underdeveloped and couldn’t speak, later learned some language but social and intellectual skills never fully developed

Question 5

What was Rutter’s study into Romanian orphans?

Answer 5

• Longitudinal study
• 111 Romanian orphans adopted by British families compared with control group of 52 UK adoptees and followed over prolonged period
• Some orphans were adopted before 6 months old and some after
• Assessed at ages 4, 6 and 11

Question 6

What were the results from Rutter’s study?

Answer 6

• Children adopted when they were younger than 6 months had same level of emotional development as UK children adopted at same age
• Children older than 6 months showed insecure attachments and social problems that UK children didn’t show

Question 7

What was the conclusion from Rutter’s study?

Answer 7

Effects of privation can be reversed if attachment forms before 6 months but long-term effects can be permanent if attachment doesn’t occur by 6 months

Question 8

What is the evaluation from Rutter’s study?

Answer 8

• Longitudinal study provides better insight into long-term effects of privation
• Qualitative data is harder to create generalised theories from

Question 9

What have studies suggested are the long-term effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 9

Affectionless psychopathy, anaclitic depression, deprivation dwarfism, delinquency, reduced intelligence