maternal deprivation re-assessed: Rutter vs Bowlby Flashcards
what did Rutter (1981) argue against Bowlby?
argued that if a child pails to develop and emotional bond or attachment that this is privation, whereas deprivation refers to the loss of or damage to an attachment.
what is institutionalism?
refers to the effects of living in an institutionalised setting, where children live for long periods of time.
what are orphan studies?
studies which concern children placed in care because their parents are no longer able to look after them due to death or abandonment.
what rule did Nicolae Ceausescu make for Romania?
Banned abortion and denied any access to contraception, so many children had to be placed in orphanages.
Rutter et al (2011) romanian orphan study (procedure)
used a longitudinal study and was a natural experiment, using a group of around 150 Romanian orphans and assessed them at ages 4,6,11 & 15. A group of British children adopted at the same time acted as a control group
Rutter et al (2011) romanian orphan study (findings)
those who were adopted by British families before 6 months old showed ‘normal’ emotional development compared with UK children adopted at the same age. Many adopted after 6 months had lower than normal IQ and showed disinhibited attachments and had problems with peers.
Rutter et al (2011) romanian orphan study (conclusion)
this suggests long-term consequences may be less severe than was once thought if children have the opportunity to form attachments. when children don’t form attachment’s, the consequences are likely to be severe.
one effect of institutionalism?
disinhibited attachment.
what is a disinhibited attachment?
children becoming innapropriately friendly to complete strangers, or crossing boundaries in ways which may make others feel uncomfortable. this goes against norms in society.
what behaviours can be expected from an individual with a disinhibited attachment?
attention seeking behaviour towards all adults, lack of fear of strangers, inappropriate physical contact and lack of checking back to the parent in stressful situations.
what is delayed intellectual development?
in Rutters study, most children showed signs of intellectual disability when they arrived in Britain. However, most of those adopted before they were 6 months old caught up with the control group by age 4. like emotional development, damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalism can be recovered before the age of 6 months.
The Bucharest early intervention project Zeanah et al (2005) - procedure
assessed attachemtn in 95 romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutions. they were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution. attachment type was measured using the strange situation.
