Romanian orphan studies: effects of institutionalisation Flashcards
Who conducted the Romanian orphan study?
Rutter and Sonuga-Barke.
Outline the procedure of Rutter and Sonuga-Barke’s study.
Studied group of Romanian orphans who suffered from institutionalisation. Tested at regular intervals to asses physical, social and cognitive development. Compared to British control group of orphans.
What did they find in the majority of Romanian orphans early on?
Early on: underdeveloped in all categories - ‘mentally retarded’.
What was the significance of being adopted before or after 6 months post-institutionalisation?
Adopted before: development caught up by age 4
Adopted after: significant deficits in development. Disinhibited attachments and problems with relationships.
What are the effects of institutionalisation?
Physical underdevelopment - deprivation dwarfism. Cognitive underdevelopment. Disinhibited attachment. Poor at parenting.
What is disinhibited attachment?
No discrimination of attachment, over-friendly to strangers and attention-seeking.
(AO3) Describe further research into the effects of institutionalisation on Romanian children.
Strange situation - compare Romanians with 90% childhood in institutional care to children 0% in institution. Institutionalised children showed disinhibited attachment.
(AO3) What is a clear issue with the validity of Romanian orphan studies?
Population validity. Romanian-only sample. Difficult to generalise. Institutions and attachment may be different elsewhere - more external validity issues. However, if attachment is an innate process, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
(AO3) What was the positive real world application of the study?
Improve care of orphaned children. More emotional support in institutions - prevent effects of institutionalisation. Adopted within weeks of birth if possible. Allows for secure attachment & normal development.
(AO3) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the experimental design used by Rutter and Sonuga-Barke?
Natural experiment. Allows for investigation of unique phenomenon. However, lack of IV control. Cannot manipulate early deprivation and other factors - individual differences. Affects validity & reliability - deprivation is not inevitable.
