Institutionalisation and the romanian orphan studies Flashcards
Why are orphan studies used in research into attachment?
They show the effects of extreme deprivation on emotional and intellectual development.
Why were there high numbers of romanian orphans?
Under communist rule, both abortion and contraception were forbidden in Romania. He believed that population growth would lead to economic growth. As a result of these bans, birth rates rose dramatically and not all families could afford to look after these children and so there was an increase in the number of children becoming institutionalised.
Define institutionalisation.
The effects of having lived in an institution for a long, continuous, period of time.
Outline the procedure of Rutter’s English and Romanian Adoptee Study.
Rutter and colleagues followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans , who had been adopted in the Uk, for many years and compared them to a control group of 52 adoptees from the Uk.
They conducted a longitudinal study by assessing the children’s physical, cognitive and emotional development at ages 4,6,11,15 and 22-25 years.
Outline the findings of Rutter’s English and Romanian Adoptee Study.
The researchers found differential rates of recovery depending on the age of adoption.
The earlier the children were adopted, the higher their IQ scores were.
E.g at age 11, the mean IQ score for children adopted within 6 months was 102 however those adopted between 6 months to 2 years had a mean IQ score of 86.
Those who were adopted over the age of two years old had a significantly lower mean IQ of 77.
Children adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment.
In poor quality institutions, like those in Romania, a child might have 50 careers but does not spend enough time with any one of them to be able to form a specific attachment.
What occured if an orphan was adopted after 2 years?
Those who were adopted over the age of two years old had a significantly lower mean IQ of 77.
What is disinhibited attachment?
Disinhibited attachment is categorised as:
-Attention-seeking behaviour
-Clinginess
-Social behaviour towards all adults including strangers.
Give a strength of research into institutionalisation and romanian orphan studies. (Real-world application).
One strength of the Romanian Orphan studies is their application to improve conditions for children growing up outside of a family home.
For example, studying the Romanian orphans has improved psychologists’ understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects. This has led to improvements in the care system for example, children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child. Instead each child tends to have one or two ‘key workers’ who play a central role in their care. Considerable effort is also made to have children fostered or adopted instead of placing them in an institution. This means that children living outside of family homes have opportunities to develop normal attachments and not the disinhibited attachment type.
Give a limitation of research into institutionalisation and romanian orphan studies. (current lack of data on adult development).
One limitation of the Romanian Orphan studies is the current lack of data on adult development. The latest data from the ERA study looked at children in their early to mid 20s. This means that we do not currently have data to answer some of the research questions about the long term effects of early institutional care. These questions include the lifetime preference of mental he although conditions and the participants success in forming and maintaining adult romantic and parental relationships. It will take time to gather this data due to this study being longitudinal. This is a limitation as it means that it will we some time before we know more about the long term effects on the orphans.
