Romanian Orphan Studies: Effects of Institutionalisation

Question 1

What are the aims of the Rutter ERA study?

Answer 1

Rutter and Sonuga-Barke (2010) wanted to investigate to what extend good care could make up for poor early experiences

Question 2

Describe the procedure of the Rutter ERA study?

Answer 2

• Rutter and Sonuga-Barke longitudinally assessed a group of 165 Romanian orphans, who spent their early lives in Romanian insititutions, adopted in Britain. Physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4,6,11, and 15. A group of 52 British adoptees served as a control group.
• They were either adopted before the ages of 2 (111 children) or by the age of 4 (54 children). They were compared to a control group of 52 British children adopted before the age of 6 months
• Attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation. Careers were asked about unusual social behaviour. like clingy, attention-seeking, social behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar (disinhibited attachment)

Question 3

Describe the findings of the Rutter ERA study

Answer 3

• At the time of adoption, Romanian orphans lagged behind their British counterparts on all measures of physical, cognitive and social development. They were smaller, weighed less and were classified as mentally retarded. By the age of 4, some had caught up with their British counterparts.
• Follow-ups showed at age 11, the adopted children showed differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption. The mean IQ of the children adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared with 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years and 77 for those adopted after 2 years. These differences (Beckett et al. 2010)
• Those adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited symptoms. While those adopted before the age of 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment

Question 4

What is the conclusion the Rutter ERA study?

Answer 4

Emotional development, damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months - the age at which attachment forms

Question 5

Describe Le Mare and Audet’s study

Answer 5

• Le Mare and Audet (2006) have reported the findings from a longitudinal study of 36 Romanian orphans adopted in Canada.
• The dependent variables were physical growth and health. The adopted orphans were physically smaller than a matched control group at age 4 and a half, but the difference disappeared by ten and half years. The same was true for physical health
• Suggests recovery is possible from the effects of institutionalisation on physical development

Question 6

Describe Zeanah et al’s study

Answer 6

• Zeanah et al (2005) compared 136 Romanian children who had, on average, spent 90% of their lives in an institution, to a control group of Romanian children who had never been in an institution.
• The children were aged 12-31 months and were assessed in the Strange Situation. The institutionalised children showed signs of disinhibited attachment

Question 7

Describe physical underdevelopment as an effect of institutionalistion

Answer 7

Children in institutional care are usually physically small. Research by Gadner (1972) showed that lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment is the cause of what has been called deprivation dwarfism

Question 8

Describe intellectual under functioning as an effect of institutionalisation

Answer 8

Cognitive development is affected by emotional deprivation (as shown by Skodak and Skeels)

Question 9

Describe disinhibited attachment as an effect of institutionalisation

Answer 9

A form of insecure attachment where children don’t discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures. They will treat near-strangers with inappropriate familiarity and may be attention seeking

Question 10

Describe poor parenting as an effect of institutionalisation

Answer 10

• Harlow showed monkeys raised with a surrogate mother went on to become poor parents.
• Supported by Quinton et al (1984) who compared a group of 50 women who had been reared in institutions with a control group of 50 women reared at home. When they were in their 20s, the ex-institutional women experienced extreme difficulties acting as parents.

Question 11

Give evaluation for research into institutionalisation (Real-life)

Answer 11

• It has helped us to understand the effects of institutionalisation and improve the outcomes of those in care
• Previous research by Robertson and Bowlby changed the way children were looked after in hospital. Institutionalisation research has shown the importance of early adoption. In the past, mothers who were going to give up a baby for adoption were encouraged to nurse the baby for a significant period of time. By the time the baby was adopted the sensitive period for attachment may have passes, making it difficult to form secure attachments with a new mother
• Most babies now are adopted within the first week of birth and research by Singer et al shows that adoptive mothers and children are just as securely attached as non-adoptive families.

Question 12

Give evaluation for research into institutionalisation (longitudinally)

Answer 12

• Rutter’s research was conduced longitudinally
• Longitudinal research allows us to follow the same group of individuals over a long period of time. This allows us to establish the long-lasting effects of institutionalisation. This is also better than comparing different insitutionalised groups at different ages as such research may be affected by individual differences; making comparison more difficult.
• This is usually incredibly impractical given the length of time it takes.
• This is still a strength as we can be confident in validity of the findings from the Romanian Orphan studies due to the benefits from longitudinal research

Question 13

Give evaluation for research into institutionalisation (confounding variables)

Answer 13

• Research was inevitably affected by confounding variables
• The standards of care in Romanian orphanages were appalling and are unlikely to represent other situations where children experience deprivation
• This is an issue as it means that the findings and conclusions generated from research into institutionlisation may be explained by other factors; such as poverty and abuse, shown by Turner and Lloyd. This limits our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation that we can gain from such research

Question 14

Give evaluation for research into institutionalisation (permanent effects)

Answer 14

• The view that consequences are permanent may be questioned
• One of the findings of the Rutter ERA study was that at age 11, a lower number of children had disinhibited attachment, Therefore ex-institutional children may simply need more time than normal to learn how to cope with relationships.
• Further support by Le Mare and Audet’s findings that physical underdevelopment had improved by age 11, suggesting that development does continue in these children
• This implies effects may just be slower development