Romanian Orphan Studies: Effects Of Institutionalisation

Question 1

Rutter and Songua-Barke (2010):

Procedure

Answer 1

led a study of Romanian orphans and thus suffered from institutionalism. 111 were adopted before 2yrs and 54 by 4yrs. The adoptees were tested regularly, assessing physical, cognitive and social development. Their results were compared to a control group of UK orphans adopted before 6 months

Question 2

Rutter and Songua-Barke (2010):

Findings

Answer 2

the Romanian orphans lagged behind their British counterparts in all areas tested; they were physically smaller and considered ‘mentally retarded’. Many of those adopted AFTER 6 months showed disinhibited attachments

Question 3

Other studies of Romanian orphans:

Le Mare and Audet (2006)

Answer 3

studied 36 Romanian orphans and found that they were also physically smaller than a control group at 4.5yrs but had caught up by 10.5years suggesting that the effects of institutionalism are recoverable

Question 4

Effects of institutionalisation:

Answer 4

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: smaller (deprivation dwarfism)
INTELLECTUAL UNDERFUNCTIONING: slowed cognitive development
DISINHIBITED ATTACHMENTS: treating near-strangers with overfriendliness
POOR PARENTING: extreme difficulties with parenting (Quinton et al. (1984)