Institutionalisation: Romanian Orphans Flashcards
define institutionalisation
3
the effects of institutional care
how time spent in an institution like an orphanage can affect a child’s development
effects include social, mental and physical underdevelopments, some of which may be irreversible
effects of institutionalisation
5
physical underdevelopment
intellectual under functioning
disinhibited attachment
poor parenting
these could be due to lack of emotional care as well as physical care
physical underdevelopment
2
children in institutional care are usually physically small and weigh less
could be due to lack of emotional care
intellectual under functioning
2
cognitive development is also affected by institutionalisation
for example, children in institutions tend to have lower IQs and learning difficulties
disinhibited attachment
2
a form of insecure attachment where children do not discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures
they may treat strangers with inappropriate familiarity and over friendliness
poor parenting
2
children raised in institutions tend to grow up to become poor parents
for example, they may not provide their children with sufficient emotional care because they may not have experienced this themselves
studies into the effects of institutionalisation
5
SKODAK + SKEELS studied children in institutions
they found that these children scored poorly in intelligence tests, which suggests intellectual under functioning
however, when these same children were transferred to a different institution and provided with emotional care, their IQ scores improved by almost 30 points
RUTTER + SONGUA BARKE (2010)
HARLOW — poor parenting
KEY STUDY: Rutter + Songua-Barke, 2010 (procedure)
4
followed 165 Romanian orphans who’d spent their early lives in institutions and therefore suffered the effects of institutionalisation
111 were adopted before the age of 2 and 54 were adopted by the age of 4
these adoptees were tested at regular intervals (at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15) to assess their physical, cognitive and social development
their progress was compared to a control group of 52 British children adopted in the UK before the age of 6 months
KEY STUDY: Rutter + Songua-Barke, 2010 (findings)
6
Romanian orphans lagged behind the British control group on all measures of physical, cognitive and social developments
they were smaller, weighed less and classified as ‘mentally retarded’
by the age of 4, some Romanian orphans had caught up with the development of the British children — this was true for almost all of the Romanian children adopted before the age of 6 months
follow ups confirmed that children who had experienced institutional care beyond 6 months still had significant deficits, such as problems with peer relationships
demonstrates that the long term consequences of institutionalisation may be less severe if children are adopted at a young age and have the opportunity to form attachments
but if this does not happen then the consequences are likely to be severe and long lasting
x3 evaluation points
supported by Harlow
real life application
methodology of research
EVALUATION
supported by Harlow
5
Harlow demonstrated the effects of institutionalisation in his study of monkeys
his findings suggested that the monkeys kept in captivity and raised by the wire mother went on to become poor parents
Quinton et al also demonstrated the effects of institutionalisation on parenting — he compared a group of 50 women raised in institutions to 50 women raised at home and found that institutional women found it extremely difficult to act as parents
this supports Rutter and Songua-Barke’s findings, particularly that time spent in an institution such as an orphanage can affect development — institutionalisation can impact social, mental and physical developments, some of which may be irreversible
therefore, the study can claim reliability and may be very useful in explaining the effects of institutional care
EVALUATION
real life applications
4
research into institutionalisation can be used to improve the lives of children placed in such institutions
for example, understanding the effects of institutionalisation can ensure that children in care are given sufficient emotional care so that they do not suffer the effects of being institutionalised, such as being physically smaller, weighing less or lagging behind cognitively and socially
the Romanian orphan studies specifically highlights the importance of early adoption and today most babies are adopted within the first week of birth and research shows that adoptive mothers and children are just as securely attached as non adoptive families
therefore, this study can be said to be very useful as it can be applied to real life and used to genuinely improve the lives of children in care and other institutions
EVALUATION
methodology of research
7
the Romanian orphan study was a longitudinal study, which enables us to see development in the same children over time
this prevents the researchers from mistakenly concluding that there are major irreversible effects due to early institutional care, but longitudinal studies highlight that these effects disappear after sufficient time with high quality care
therefore, we are able to see that some effects are reversible, which increases the usefulness of the study as it accurately represents the effects of institutionalisation
however, adoption and control groups were used
these groups are not randomly assigned, meaning that personality could have had an impact on the results obtained
more sociable children may be more likely to be adopted, leaving the naturally less sociable children in institutions and assuming that this lack of sociability is an effect of institutionalisation
therefore, the findings may lack validity and the study as a whole may be limited in its ability to explain the effects of institutionalisation
