Romanian orphan studies (effects of institutionalisation)

Question 1

Outline the procedure of Rutter’s ERA study

Answer 1

• followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions
• physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at ages 4,6,11 and 15 years
• a group of 52 British children adopted at the same time serve as a control group

Question 2

What were Rutters’ findings

Answer 2

• when they first arrived to the UK 1/2 showed signs of mental retardation and the majotrity were severely undernourished
• at 11 the adoptees showed differential rates of recovery
• the mean IQ for those adopted at the age of 6 months was 102 compared with 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years, 77 for those adopted after two years
• these differences remained till they were 16
• those adopted at 6 months of age showed signs of a disinhibited attachment

Question 3

What are the symptoms of disinhibited attachment

Answer 3

-attention seeking, clinginess and indiscriminate social behaviour towards adults

Question 4

Outline Zeanah et al.’s procedure

Answer 4

• assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most their lives in institutional care
• they were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution
• attachment type measured using the strange situation
• carers were asked about unusual behaviour

Question 5

Outline Zeanah et al.’s findings

Answer 5

• 74% of the control group were SA
• only 19% of those in institutions were SA
• 65% being classified with disorganised attachment
• description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children compared to 20% of the control group

Question 6

Outline disinhibited attachment

Answer 6

• equally friendly to strangers as well as those they know well
• weird as kids aged 2 show stranger anxiety

Question 7

Outline mental retardation

Answer 7

• those brought up in institutions at 6 months caught up with the control group once aged 4 in terms of intellectual ability

Question 8

Give a strength of these studies

Answer 8

• such findings have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions
• immensely valuable in practical terms and has real life application

Question 9

Give a limitation of these studies

Answer 9

• Romanian orphans had low standards of care, low intellectual stimulation
• limitation as the unusual situational variables mean the study may after all lack generalisability