Romanian orphan studies Flashcards
What is institutional care? (3) What do you need to remember to do when talking about it
Institutional care refers to situations where children spend part of their childhood in a hospital, an orphanage or a residential children’s home.
Note, you need to describe the effects of institutional care - this means the results of research studies rather than the procedure (i.e. what happened).
What did Rutter study? (1-1-1) What kind of study was this? (2)
studied Romanian orphans who had been placed in orphanages, aged 1-2 weeks old, with minimal adult contact.
This was a Longitudinal study and natural experiment
What was the sample like in Romanian orphanage study? When were they assessed? (4)
around 100 Romanian orphans and assessed at ages 4, 6 and 11, then re-assessed 21 years later.
What were the conditions of Rutter’s study? (3) How many children were in each?
- 58 babies were adopted before 6 months old
- 59 between the ages of 6-24 months old.
- 48 babies were adopted late between 2-4 years old. These were the 3 conditions Rutter used in his study.
What were the findings of Rutters study.? (2)
- 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 old showed disinhibited attachments (e.g. attention seeking behavior towards all adults, lack of fear of strangers, inappropriate physical contact, lack of checking back to the parent in stressful situations) and had problems with peers
What was the conclusion Rutter made? (1-1)
This study 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 attachments, the consequences are likely to be severe.
What is disinhibited attachment? Behaviours typical of this? (3)
- Disinhibited attachment is where children don’t discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures.
- The child doesn’t seem to prefer his or her parents over other people, even strangers.
- The child seeks comfort and attention from virtually anyone, without distinction.
- They will treat strangers with overfriendliness and may be attention seeking
Define institution
What are the effects of institution
Examples of effects(3)
Describing the living in an institution where children can live for a prolonged period of time
Effects can be emotional, social, physical and cognitive
- quasi autistic: problems socialising & understanding regular social cues
- shorter and more underweight= malnourished
- faulty internal model
Who was the control group in Rutters study
British children, adopted before 6 months old
How was institutionalisation tested in these children (4)
Social, cognitive, physical development of children was examined at regular intervals (between ages 4-15) & interviews conducted with adoptive parents + teachers
What is another study investigating effects of institutionalisation
Explain briefly what this study was
The Bucharest Early Intervention Project- Zeanah et al.
randomized controlled trial of foster care as an intervention for children abandoned at or around the time of birth and placed in one of six institutions for young children in Bucharest, Romania
What were the Findings in Bucharest Early Intervention Project- Zeanah et al. ? (3)
- 74% of the control group was found to be securely attached but only 19% of the institutionalised group.
- 65% of this group were classified as disorganised attachment (a type of insecure attachment were the children display an inconsistent pattern of behavior; sometimes they show strong attachment other times they avoid the caregiver).
Rutter’s Romanian ophan study
Elaborate on the +ve evaluation point about: Real world application (2 + study)
- Helped improve quality of care in institutions
- Before carers were discouraged from forming attachment or close bonds-> But now bonds encouraged as it’s important for physical and mental growth
- Singer et al (1985)’s research shown adopted children are just as securely attached as non-adoptive children
Shows how research has improved care for children
Rutter’s Romanian ophan study
Elaborate on the +ve evaluation point about: Longitudinal study (3)
- This study provided detailed measurements through the use of interviews and observations of the children’s behaviour’s
- Research took place over many years = could assess short-term and long-term effects of institutionalisation & benefits of adoption
- ∴ results appear to be valid representation of effects of being placed in institutional care & results of receiving follow-up emotional caregiving
Rutter’s Romanian ophan study
Elaborate on the -ve evaluation point about: Deprivation is only one factor in development (4)
- Orphans experienced very little to no mental stimulation & were often malnourished
- Suggests multiple risk factors involved in finding out the effects of institutional care
- not easy to find out information about the institutional experience for the child and therefore we don’t know the extent of early privation experienced by these children
- ∴ difficult to interpret results of studies as sole effect of deprivation as there’s many influences that affected the children (e.g. living poverty
