Attachment - Romanian orphan studies Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

What are institutions?

A
  • Children’s homes (Orphanages)
  • Hostels
  • Hospitals
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are the effects of staying in institutions?

A

-Extended stays can alter normal functioning such as adopting rules and norms of an institution (Institutionalisation), this can result in a loss of personal identity, deindividuation and factors identified by Bowlby such as: Affectionless psychopathy, delinquency and low IQ

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is deprivation?

A
  • Deprivation is a loss or damage to an attachment, so not receiving suitable emotional care from the primary caregiver
  • Privation is the total lack of development of any attachment bond
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How were the Romanian orphanages revealed to be in such unethical conditions?

A
  • The fall of the communist government in 1989 revealed conditions of 300,000 Romanian orphans suffering from privation
  • The orphans lacked physical and emotional care from staff and many of the children were malnourished and abused
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What did Rutter’s longitudinal study on Romanian orphanages show about deprivation and the effects of the institutions?

A
  • Rutter conducted a longitudinal study with 165 Romanian orphans who were adopted into UK families
  • The orphans were either: Adopted under 6months, 6 to 24months or over 24months old
  • The orphans were then compared to a control group of British adoptees
  • All the groups were assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years old
  • Age 6: If adopted after 6 months, the children showed a disinhibited attachment, an overly friendly behaviour to strange adults
  • Age 11: If adopted after 6 months the children showed significant delayed intellectual development, the average IQ if the child was adopted after 24 months was 77
  • In some cases, the orphans showed characteristics of quasi-autism, problems understanding the meaning of social context
  • This suggests, adoption within 6 months avoids effects of privation, and the recovery seen from some of the adopted orphans suggests that the “Critical period” is more of a “Sensitive” period as the children can recover by forming a later attachment
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is an advantage of the Romanian orphan studies?

A

-Research done in the Romanian orphan studies have resulted in changed policies around adoption and care in orphanages and other institutional settings

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is a disadvantage of Romanian orphan studies?

A
  • Infants were not randomly assigned to parents/caregivers when they were adopted
  • This means that more sociable infants may have been picked first, so some of the orphans would have been left out
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What did Goldfarb find about fostering British children and the effect on IQ score and social skills?

A

-Goldfarb showed that early fostering in British children led to higher IQ and improved social skills

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly