Attachment - Effects of Institutionalisation Flashcards
Romania in the 1980s
- Communist ruler in power - Ceausescu
- Wanted to increase population growth
- Families expected to have 5 children
- Contraception banned
- Economy struggling - little resources for childcare
Orphanage crisis
- Parents unable to care for children
- Over 100,000 children sent to orphanages
- Conditions ranged from poor to appalling
- Children confined to cots
- Few toys or stimulation
- Little interaction with caregivers
Fall of Ceausescu
- Killed on Christmas Day 1989
- Orphanages exposed to international media
- TV reports shocked viewers worldwide
- Many families in UK moved to adopt Romanian children
English and Romanian Adoptees study
- Led by Michael Rutter - “father of child psychiatry”
- Followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted in UK
- Compared to 52 UK-born adopted children
- Assessments at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15
- Wanted to understand the effects of early deprivation and potential for recovery
Key findings: Early Adoption
- Children adopted before 6 months showed rapid catch-up
- Physical growth and cognitive abilities nearly normal by age 4
- Performed similarly to UK-born adopted children
Key findings: Later Adoption
- Children adopted after 6 months showed more problems
- 4 main areas of concern identified:
Quasi-Autism
Disinhibited attachment
Inattention + overactivity
Cognitive impairment - Severity of issues correlated with time spent in institutions
Issue 1: Quasi-Autism
- Not clinically autistic, but showed some symptoms
- Difficulty understanding social contexts
- Obsessive behaviours (fixation on specific objects)
Issue 2: Disinhibited Attachment
- Inappropriate behaviour towards strangers
- Lack of wariness in unfamiliar settings
- Willingness to wander off with strangers
- Possibly due to multiple, changing caregivers in orphanages
Issue 3: Inattention and Overactivity
- Higher levels in children adopted after 6 months
- Difficulty paying attention and concentrating
- Challenges controlling impulses
- Similar to symptoms of ADHD
Issue 4: Cognitive Impairment
- Lower IQ scores in children adopted later
- Age 11:
Adopted before 6 months - average IQ 102
Adopted 6 months - 2 years - average IQ 86
Adopted after 2 years - average IQ 77 - Delayed intellectual development
Rutter’s conclusions
- Effects of institutional deprivation are not fixed
- Many children can recover with support
- Strong, supportive adoptive families can reverse damage
- Early intervention is crucial
Advantages of Rutter’s research
- Real-life application:
Rutter’s study can helped with the development/enhancement of the effects of institutionalisation.
Led to improvements in the conditions for children in institutions
Children in institutional care are more likely to form a healthy attachment without much of the risk of disinhibited attachment.
Disadvantages of Rutter’s research
- Does not account individual differences between children:
Not all institutions were the same and some children would have received varying levels of attention that could have influenced their ability to attach
Decreases the validity into the effects of institutionalisation, as some children may be given more or less attention than others.
Atypical situation:
Romanian orphanages had particularly poorer standards and low levels of intellectual stimulation, which cannot be generalised to other institutions with better care#
Romanian orphan studies lack external validity as it doesn’t show how better-quality institutions could affect institutionalisation
Socially sensitive:
Results from Romanian orphans studies showed that late-adopted children typically have poor development
Whilst these children were growing up, teachers and parents and others would have lowered their expectations and treated the adopted children differently
Institutionalised children may be less favoured than children who were raised by their real parents.
