attachment - institutionalisation

Question 1

Rutter et al - procedure

Answer 1

followed group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in the UK

assessed cognitive, emotional, and physical development to investigate how good care could make up for early institutionalisation

compared to control group of 52 adoptees from UK

Question 2

Rutter et al - findings

Answer 2

delayed intellectual development

rates of recovery related to age of adoption - earlier adoption meant better recovery
- age 11: before 6 months average IQ of 102, after 2 years average IQ of 77

those adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment

Question 3

Zeanah et al - procedure

Answer 3

assessed attachment of 95 Romanian children using SS

carers were asked about unusual social behaviour

compared to control group of 50 children who’d never lived in an institution

Question 4

Zeanah et al - findings

Answer 4

74% control group secure, compared to 19% of Romanian children

44% of institutional group showed sings of disinhibited, compared to less than 20% of controls

Question 5

what is disinhibited attachment?

Answer 5

equally friendly to familiar people and strangers - indiscriminate social behaviour

unusual because most children at this early age show stranger anxiety

adaptation to living with multiple carers

Question 6

what are the effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 6

disinhibited attachment

intellectual disability
- can be overcome if adoption takes lace before age of 6 months

Question 7

strength - real-world application

Answer 7

led to improved conditions - avoid having large numbers of carers

institutional care now seen as an undesirable option

Question 8

strength - lack of confounding variables

Answer 8

children handed over by loving parents, so results less likely to be confounded by other negative experiences

counterpoint - harmful effect could be the result of poor institutional care, rather than institutions as a whole

Question 9

limitation - lack of adult data

Answer 9

due to longitudinal nature of the study, we don’t have information about long-term effects into adulthood, so many questions still remained unanswered

Question 10

limitation - social sensitivity

Answer 10

shows late-adopted children have poor developmental outcomes

results published while children were growing up - could lead to stereotyping, lowered expectations, or self-fulfilling prophecies