Effects of institutionalisation Flashcards
What does institutionalisation cause?
Privation and acute distress
What was the Aim of Hodges and Tizard
To observe the effects of institutionalisation on how infants form attachments and the quality of attachment they form
What was Hodges. and Tizards Procedure
- Followed a group of 65 British children from early life. to adolescence
- Children had been in 1 institution when they were less than 4 months
- Children were too young to form attachments
- There was explicit policy the institution against care workers forming attachments
- Most if not all had experienced early emotional privation
Give the findings of Hodges and Tizard findings
- The children were assessed at regular intervals until 16
- Some children remained in institution, but most were adopted or restored with their biological families
- The restored children were less likely to attach to their mothers, but adopted children were closely attached to their parents
- They were less likely to have a best. friend and liked by other. children
- They were more argumentative and seek more attention from adults
What have wars in Eastern Europe caused?
Provided more opportunities to study the effects of institutionalisation on attachment as lots of children were left homeless and put in care
Who did the Romanian Orphan study?
Rutter - 2007
What was Rutter’s aim
To investigate the effects of institutionalisation in a group of 165 Romanian Orphans
What was Rutter’s procedure
- Studied a group of 165 orphans and assessed them at 4, 6 and 11 years old in terms of psychological, physical and emotional development
- These results were compared to 50 children adopted in Britain at roughly the same time and were a control group
What were the findings of Rutter?
The majority of orphans were malnourished. The mean IQ was dependent on when they were adopted. Those adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment. This is characterised by attention seeking and affectionate behaviour being shown towards any. or all adults and is. thought to be. the result of having too many. caregivers in the critical period so a secure attachment can’t be formed
What were Rutter’s conclusions
- Rutter demonstrated the importance and effects of adopting orphans at different ages
- A full recovery was made if adoption occurred before 6 months, includes emotional and intellectual developmental recoveries.
- These conclusions were supported by the Bucharest Early Intervention project, demonstrated 65% of their sample of 95 orphans displayed signs of disorganised disorganised. attachments, compared to 20% in the healthy non-deprived group
Give a + (RCV)
Rutter’s study compared to other studies is that he was able to study the. effects ny removing confounding variable. of PTSD and trauma. This increases the confidence that researchers can place on their conclusions being reliable and the displayed differential rates of recovery
Give a - (MI)
Methodological issues that Rutter focuses on STM rather than LTM. To. increase the validity of the study would have been Bette carried out. over a longer. time period
Give a - (LEV)
Rutter had low ecological. validity because the orphanages conditions were poor. The average orphanage would have better conditions suggesting the findings can’t be generalised outside where. they were found
What has attachment disorder been recognised as?
A distinct psychiatric condition
What signs distinct psychiatric children show?
- No preferred attachment figure
- An inability to interact and relate to others
- Experiences of severe neglect or frequent changes of caregivers
