Romanian orphan studies: Institutionalisation Flashcards
What are orphan studies?
These concern children placed in care because their parents can’t look after them.
Orphan - A child whose parents either died or abandoned them permanently.
Define the term institutionalisation.
In the context of attachment refers to the effects of growing up in an orphanage or children’s home. Children who are raised in these institutions often suffer from a lack of emotional care, which means that children are unable to form attachments.
What’s the procedure of Rutter et al.’s research?
- Studied 165 Romanian children who spent their early lives in Romanian institutions - suffering from the effects of institutionalisation.
- 111 of them were adopted before the age of 2 years
- 54 adopted by the age of 4.
- Adoptees were tested at regular intervals (ages 4, 6, 11 and 15) to assess their physical, cognitive and social development.
- Information was gathered in interviews with parents and teachers.
- Their progress were compared to a control group of 52 British children adopted in the UK before the age of 6 months.
What’s are the findings of Rutter et al.’s research?
- When adopted children first arrived in the UK they showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished.
When the orphans were 11: - Mean IQ of children adopted before the age of six months was 102.
- Adopted between 6 months and 2 and a half years mean IQ was 86.
- After the age of 2 and a half years mean IQ was 77
- After 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment.
List the symptoms of disinhibited attachment.
Attention-seeking
Clinginess
Social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults
What did Rutter et al conclude?
Severe long-term effects of institutionalisation can be avoided if the child is able to form an attachment before 6 months.
What’s the procedure of Zeanah et al.’s research?
Conducted Bucharest early intervention (BEI) project.
Assess attachment in 95 Romanian children 12-31 months who spent most their lives in institutional care.
Compared to control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
Attachment measured using Strange Situation.
Carers asked about unusual social behaviour.
What are the findings of Zeanah et al.’s research?
74% control group classed securely attached in the Strange Situation.
19% institutional group were securely attached.
44% institutional group were disinhibited attached.
Less than 20% control is disinhibited.
What are the strengths of Romanian orphanage studies?
Real-world application.
Lack of confounding variables.
How does Romanian orphanage studies have real-world application?
Has improved psychologists’ understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects.
Improved conditions of care system:
Avoid large numbers of caregivers for each child - have 1 or 2 ‘key workers’ who play a central role in emotional care.
Effort made to have children in foster care or adopted.
What are the strengths of Romanian orphanage studies?
Real-world application.
Lack of confounding variables.
Why is real-word application a strength of Romanian orphanage studies?
P: Real-world application to improve children growing up outside their family home.
E: For example, children’s home now avoid having a large numbers of caregivers for each child. Also institutional care is now seen as undesirable option so effort is made to accommodate children in foster care or adopted instead.
E: This means psychologists understanding of institutionalisation has prevented the worse case scenario.
Why is a lack of confounding variables a strength?
E: Most of the children examined in these studies were placed in institutions from birth, which means they have not suffered from abuse, neglect or other trauma.
E: This makes it easier to study the effects of institutionalisation in isolation because there are fewer confounding variables.
L: Therefore unlike previous studies where children had trauma beforehand Romanian studies lacked confounding variables.
What is a limitation of Romanian orphanage studies?
The long-term effects aren’t clear.
It is too soon to say for certain whether children suffered short or long term effects because the adopted orphans have only been followed into their mid-teens.
The children who spent longer in institutions and currently lag behind in intellectual development or display attachment difficulties may still ‘catch up’ as adults.
Equally, early-adopted/fostered children who appear to have no issues now may experience emotional problems as adults.
