Romania Orphan studies: effects of institutionalization Flashcards
what was the procedure of Rutter’s ERA study?
followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test what extent good care could make up for experiences, they measured physical, cognitive and emotional development at 4,6,11, and 15 years old and this is compared tot eh control group of 52 British orphans
what were the finding of Rutter’s ERA study?
at arrival there were serve delays in development
at 11 years old IQ was resumed:
adopted before 6 months old = 102
6 months - 2 years= 86
2+ years = 77
these differences remained at 16 (Becket et al)
what was the procedure of the Bucharest early intervention project?
assessed the attachment type of 95 children 12-31 months old who spent most of there time in a institution, they were compared to a control group of 50 fostered children, using the strange situation
what were the findings of the Bucharest early intervention project?
only 19% secure (control 74%)
64% disorganized
44% disinhibited ( control 20%)
what is disinhibited attachment behavior?
friendly towards all adults and may be attention seeking and does not display stranger anxiety
what are the effect of institutionalization?
mental retardation and disinhibited attachment
what are the applications of the research?
it caused many institutions to shut down and changed the way children were cared for and they now had 2 main carers rather then multiple
how genralisable are the findings?
in normal orphanages children are often traumatized due to bereavement, abuse or neglect where as the Romanian children were from good home lives and loving families
what are the ethical issues?
the Bucharest project randomly allocated children into fostering and institutions
what are the confounding variables of Rutter’s study?
some children may be adopted because they were more social
what is the research into this topic limited?
as it is to early to tell whether the effects will remain is adulthood and many of the orphans are still young
