institutionalisation

Question 1

romanian orphan studies

Answer 1

• political events in the 1990s in romania allowed psychologists to study the effects of institutionalisation
• record numbers or children were placed in orphanages as parents couldn’t cope with the strict government rules

Question 2

rutter and songua-barke (2010) - aim

Answer 2

examine the long term effects of institutionalisation in a longitudinal study, beginning in the early 1990s

Question 3

rutter and songua-barke (2010) - method

Answer 3

-165 children who spent their early years in a romanian orphanage were the experimental group, 111 were adopted by the age of 2, and the remaining 54 by the age of 4
- compared to 52 british children who were adopted before 6 months old
- examined the social, cognitive and physical development of all infants at regular intervals (ages 4, 6, 11, and 15)
- interviews were conducted with adoptive parents and teachers

Question 4

rutter and songua-barke (2010) - results

Answer 4

• at the point of adoption the romanian orphans showed delayed development on all elements
• almost all the romanian orphans adopted before 6 months old caught up on these measures of development compared to control group
• romanian orphans adopted after 6 months old continued to show significant deficits

Question 5

rutter and songua-barke (2010) - conclusion

Answer 5

institutionalisation can have long term effects on development, especially if children aren’t provided with an adequate emotional caregiver by 2 years old

Question 6

the bucharest early intervention project (zeenah et al. 2005) - aim

Answer 6

investigate attachment type of children who spent most of their life in institutional care

Question 7

the bucharest early intervention project (zeenah et al. 2005) - method

Answer 7

• sample of almost 100 children aged 12-31 months, 90% who’d spent most their life in an orphanage, compared to control group who were never institutionalised
• used strange situation methodology to assess their attachment type
• asked carers in the institution and parents of the control group about aspects of the infants behaviour

Question 8

the bucharest early intervention project (zeenah et al. 2005) - results

Answer 8

• 74% of the control group and 19% of the experimental group were deemed to have secure attachments
• 65% of the experimental group appeared to have a disinhibited attachment

Question 9

the bucharest early intervention project (zeenah et al. 2005) - conclusion

Answer 9

infants who spend their early years in institutional care with the absence of a primary caregiver are less likely to develop a secure attachment and more likely to develop a disinhibited attachment

Question 10

give a strength of rutter and songua-barke
1/2

Answer 10

their research findings had real world applications to social services. it helped to change the way that children are treat, especially within the adoption process. historically, women were encouraged to keep their babies for a period by which the critical period may have passed, however how infants are adopted as early as 1 week old. singer et al (1985) states that these children develop secure attachments to their adoptive mothers and their family. this highlights the benefit of institutionalisation research on improving the lives of children

Question 11

give a strength of rutter and songua-barke
2/2

Answer 11

their research was longitudinal, it took place over many years allowing them to assess the short and long term effects of institutionalisation and the subsequent benefits from adoption. therefore results from their research appear to be a valid representation of the effects of institutional care as well as the results of receiving quick follow-up emotional caregiving

Question 12

give a limitation of rutter and songua-barke
1/2

Answer 12

deprivation is only one factor involved in development, for example the infants experienced very little mental stimulation and were often malnourished. this highlights that there are multiple risk factors in ascertaining the effects of institutional care. therefore, since so many factors influenced these children, it is hard to interpret the results of these studies as the sole cause of deprivation

Question 13

give a limitation of rutter and songua-barke
2/2

Answer 13

there are issues with generalising results from romanian orphan studies. since the conditions of care were so harsh for these children, they cannot be considered typical, therefore any results obtained from these studies don’t represent all situations in which children are placed into care as the conditions will vary vastly. this lack of external validity is most likely a result of the unusual situational variables due to the harsh political regimes at the time