Effects of institutionalisation

Question 1

What study did Rutter conduct to investigate the effects of instituionalisation?

Answer 1

He studied 111 Romanian institutionalised orphans who were adopted by British families, as compared to a control group of 52 kids adopted from a British orphanage
Using a longitudinal natural study

Question 2

What were the results of the Romanian Orphan studies?

Answer 2

• British children - good emotional, cognitive development, they were happy and integrated
• RO <6months - good emotional development
• RO >6months - poor E/C development
• British >6months - good E/C development

RO = romanian orphans

Question 3

What did Rutter conclude from the outcome of the RO study?

Answer 3

• The amount of abuse is another factor that contributes to the negative effects, not just the lack of an attachment figure
• British childred adopted after 6 months fare a lot better than their RO counterparts
• Consequences of privation can be reversed if the child experiences an attachment early on

Question 4

What study did Hodges and Tizard conduct to understand the effects of privation?

Answer 4

They did a longitudinal study where they observed kids at age 16 from 4 groups: Those that were adopted, those that were returned to their parents, those that remained in institution and those that were not instituionalised

Question 5

What were the results of Hodges and Tizard’s study into the effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 5

1. those adopted early - no psych damage, good development
2. those returned to neglectful parents/remained in institution - psych damage
3. those that werent institutionalised - good development

Question 6

What did Hodges and Tizard conclude from their study on institutionalisation?

Question 7

What are the limitations of research into institutionalisation?

Answer 7

1. Longitudinal studies often experience attrition (loss of ppts) because families may not want to reveal thier kids bad behaviour, and psychological damage
   - The effects of privation maybe underestimated
2. Rutter use interviews so the study could have social desirability bias because families may present themselves as more psychologically sound than reality
   - The effects of privation may be underestimated