Romanian orphan studies effects of institutionalisation

Question 1

Rutters ERA study
procedure

Answer 1

rutter and colleges 2011 followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test to what extent good care could make ups for poor early experiences in institutions . physical , cognitive and emotional development has been assed at age 4,6,11 and 15 years . a group nov 52 British children adopted around the same tie have served as the control group

Question 2

Rutters ERA study
findings

Answer 2

when they first arrived in the UK half the adoptees showed sings of delay intellectual developement and the majority were event undernourished.
at age 11 the adopted children showed differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption
the mean iq of those children adopted before the age of six months was 102 compared with 86 for those adopted between six months and two years and 77 for those adopted after 2 years. the differences remained at age 16 (BECKETT ET AL 2010)

Question 3

Rutters ERA study
conclusion

Answer 3

there appeared to be differences in outcome related to whether adoption took place before or after six months.
those children adopted after six months showed signs of. particular attachment style , disinhibited attachment . symptoms include attention seeking , clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscrimently towards all adults both familiar and unfamiliar .
in contrast those children adopted before the age of six months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Question 4

the Bucharest early intervention project
procedure

Answer 4

ZEANAH ET AL 2005
assed attachment tin 95 children aged 12-32 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average). they’re compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution. their attachment type was measured using the SS. in addiotn carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy attention seeking behaviour directed inapropriatley at all adults .

Question 5

the Bucharest early intervention project
findings

Answer 5

they found that 74% of the control group came out as securely attached in the SS. however only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached with 65% being classified as disorganised attatchement.
the descriptions of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children as opposed to 20% of controls

Question 6

disinhibited attachment

Answer 6

A typical act of spending time in an institution they are equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well well who are strangers that they have just met this is highly unusual behaviour.
RUTTER 2006
Explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation in poor quality institutions like those in Romania a child might have 50 carers none of whom they say enough to form a secure attachment

Question 7

Mental retardation

Answer 7

in rutters study most children showed signs of retardation when they arrived in Britain however most of those adopted before they were six months old caught up with the control group by age four.
- this suggests that damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of six months the age at which attachments form.

Question 8

strength
real life application

Answer 8

Still the Romanian orphans has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation search results have led to improvements in the way the children are cared for in institutions (Langton 2006)
ie orphanages and children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child and instead ensure that a much smaller number of people play essential role for the child this person is called a key worker having a key worker means that children have the chance to develop normal attachments and helps avoid disinhibited attachment.
- this that such research has been immensely valuable in practical terms

Question 9

strength
fewer extraneous variables than other orphan studies

Answer 9

Orphan studies before the Romanian orphans became available to study but often these studies involve children who had experience loss or trauma before they were institutionalised for example they may have experience neglect abuse or bereavement the children are often traumatised by their experiences
so it was very hard to observe the effects of institutionalisation in isolation because the children were dealing with multiple factors which functions as confounding participant variables
- end of Romanian orphans it has been possible to study institutionalisation without these confounding variables which means the findings have increased internal validity

Question 10

limitation
not typical sample

Answer 10

although much useful data has come about institutionalisation
it has come as a result of Romanian orphans studies
it is possible that conditions were so bad that results cannot be applied to understand and the impact of better quality institutional care or indeed any situation where children experience deprivation
for example Romanian orphanages had particularly poor standards of care especially when it came to form in any relationship with the children and extremely low levels of intellectual stimulation
- a limitation, the unusual situation variables mean studies may be after all ungeneralisable