Broken Attachments Flashcards
Define privation (Rutter):
A child that has never experienced an attachment to a caregiver.
What did Rutter aim to investigate?
Consequences of privation on child’s development through children in orphanages.
Define institutionalisation (Rutter):
Children who grow up in orphanages (an institution).
What did the child experience if they are put in an orphanage at a young age? (Rutter)
They never formed an attachment to a loving caregiver.
What did the child experience if they are put in an orphanage later in life? (Rutter)
They had unloving/neglectful parents -> experienced privation.
Outline Hodges + Tizard study:
- 65 babies placed in a residential nursery before four months old.
- Investigated whether different experiences had effects on their long-term development + future relationships
- Studied their behaviour/development once aged 16.
- Compared them to a control group (those not been Institutionalised).
What were the three different experiences in Hodges + Tizard study:
- Some Romanian children were adopted.
- Some Romanian children were returned to their biological parents.
- Some Romanian children stayed at the orphanage.
What type of study was Hodges + Tizard?
Natural experiment.
What were Hodges + Tozard findings?
- Adopted at a young age = able to form strong relationships despite privation.
- Those who stayed = impaired emotional development + struggled to form strong relationships.
- Those who returned to biological parents = impaired emotional development + struggled to form strong relationships.
What does Hodges + Tizard study support?
- That privation can have long lasting negative effects on emotional development.
- However this can be reversed if placed in a loving environment at a young age.
Who conducted The Romanian Orphan Studies?
Rutter.
Outline Rutters study (Romanian Orphans):
- UK citizens adopted Romanian orphans.
- Researchers followed them across their whole childhood/adolescence.
- Compared 111 Romanian orphans to 52 British orphans. (British had better care).
- Looked at their: cognitive, emotional, behavioural development through observations, tests and interviews.
What type of study was Rutters study (Romanian Orphans)?
A natural longitudinal study.
What were the findings of the groups in Rutters study (Romanian Orphans)?
- British children + adopted in Britain = good emotional/cognitive development-> able to form secure relationships.
- Romanian children + adopted before six months = good emotional development despite past conditions.
- Romanian children + adopted after six months = impaired emotional/cognitive development + struggled to form secure relationships.
What was the difference between the British and Romanian orphans? (Rutter)
British children didn’t experience the same psychological damage (different amount of abuse, poverty, neglect).
What were the findings of Rutters study (Romanian Orphans)?
- Effects of privation can be reversed if placed in a loving environment at a young age.
- Other factors other than institutionalisation caused negative consequences: how well they were treated + how much neglect they experienced.
- The longer they experience privation the worse the long-term outcome-> due to the abuse + lack of attachment figure.
What are the limitations of Rutters institutionalisation?
- There is often attrition in longitudinal studies meaning a possible underestimate of the negative effects of privation.
- Families might have displayed social desirability bias meaning a possible underestimation of the negative effects of privation.
What are the effects of institutionalisation? (Rutter)
- Disinhibited attachment = friendly to people they know/don’t know (no sings of stranger anxiety) due to living with multiple caregivers during sensitive period.
- Mental retardation = when arriving in Britain -> damage to intellectual development.
