Institutionalisation

Question 1

What was the procedure of Rutter’s study?

Answer 1

• Rutter (1998)
• 111 Romanian children were assessed on physical and intellectual ability
• 3 conditions:
  
  • adopted before 6m
  • adopted between 6m and 2yrs
  • adopted after 2 yrs
• dependent variable was children’s level of cognitive functioning (IQ)
• also assessed on height, head circumference and IQ and then assessed again at 4yrs.
• control group - 52 British adopted children also assessed to see whether negative effects were due to separation from carers or institutional conditions of Romanian orphanages
• Romanian children’s IQ was 63. Those adopted after 6 months was 45.
• Poor physical development for Romanian children, 51% being in the bottom 3% of population for weight. Also shorter in height
• In follow up, the children were 6 and 11, 54% who displayed disinhibited attachment at 6, still displayed this at 11.
• Disinhibited attachment = lack of close confiding relationship

Question 2

Rutter - reliability

Answer 2

• Morison (2005) studied Romanian orphans in Canada and found disinhibited attachments which was positively correlated to the time spent in an institution
• This suggests the findings are consistent in highlighting the negative effects of institutionalisation

Question 3

Rutter - natural experiments and extraneous variables

Answer 3

• Weakness is it’s a natural experiment and lacks control
• some children coped better than others and some may have received special attention in orphanages
• This means it is difficult to establish the cause and effect about the negative effects experienced by institutionalisation children

Question 4

What are the effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 4

• disinhibited attachments
• Although, the effects are not fully clear as they need to be followed into adulthood to see if the negative effects can be overcome with time