Romanian Orphan Studies - Institutionalisation Flashcards
What is institutionalisation?
When infants are placed in an institution due to being unable to be looked after by a caregiver in a normal home
Who led the study of Romanian orphans?
Rutter & Songua-Barke (2010)
What did Rutter & Songua-Barke do?
3 ages groups of Romanian orphans adopted by British families
- before 6 months
- between 6m & 2y
- 2 to 4 years
Adoptees were tested at regular intervals to assess physical, cognitive & social development (info from parents & teachers asw)
They compared these orphans to a control group of 52 British children adopted before 6 months
What did Rutter & Songua-Barke (2010) find?
Romanians lagged behind British orphans in terms of social, emotional & cognitive development - mentally retarded
Correlation between more time spent in institution and lower IQ
Children adopted 2-4 years more likely to suffer mental health issues
Lots of children adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment
What is disinhibited attachment?
Attention seeking, clingy, social behaviour, directed towards any adults indiscriminately
How did Rutter (2006) explain why the Romanian orphans had disinhibited attachments?
It was an adaptation to living with multiple carers during the critical period - couldn’t securely attach to just 1
What did Rutter & Songua-Barke conclude?
Institutional care doesn’t mean the children won’t recover (before 6 months was fine)
If conditions of institution are appalling, it can lead to long-term consequences
Effects of institutionalisation can be minimised if adopted as young as possible
What are some weaknesses of Rutter & Songua-Barke’s study (2010)?
Lack of consent from children (too young)
Only some children had detailed clinical investigation - cannot generalise findings
Natural experiment - extraneous variables may have been present
What are the 2 other Romanian Orphan Studies?
Le Mare & Audet (2006)
Zeaneh et al (2005)
What did Le Mare & Audet (2006) do?
Reported findings of longitudinal study of 36 Romanian orphans in Canada
Adopted orphans physically smaller at younger age (disappeared when older)
Suggests it is possible to recover from effects of institutionalisation on physical development
What did Zeaneh et al (2005) do?
Compared 95 Romanian orphans to a control group of 50 children who had never been in an institution
74% control group securely attached, compared to 19%
65% institutionalised orphans were Type D
44% institutionalised orphans had disinhibited attachment compared to under 20% in control group
What are the 5 effects of institutionalisation?
Physical underdevelopment - Garder (1972) + Le Mare & Audet (2006)
Lower IQ (mental retardation) - Skodak & Skeels (1949)
Disinhibited attachment
Quasi Autism
Poor parenting - Harlow & Quinton et al (1984)
What did Gardner (1972) find?
Lack of emotional care rather than nourishment causes physical underdevelopment- “deprivation dwarfism”
What did Skodak & Skeels (1949) find?
Found that institutionalised children scored portly on IQ tests but when transferred for better care, their scores improved
What are some signs of Quasi-Autism?
Struggling to understand the meaning of social contexts
Showing repetitive behaviour - rocking or hand flapping
What did Quinton et al (1984) find about the effect of institutionalisation on parenting?
He tested women who had been raised in an institution to a control group of women raised in homes
The ex-institutional women struggled more the be good parents as many of their children spent time in care
What are the strengths of the Institutionalisation Studies?
Real world application (better institutions)
Longitudinal Studies - allows us to understand the effects of institutionalisation and if they are permanent
Rutter’s study had fewer confounding variables than previous studies
How do the institutionalisation studies have real world application?
Gave better understanding of institutionalisation, improving conditions in institutions
Making sure those children have only 1 of 2 caregivers (prevent disinhibited attachment)
How did Rutter’s study have few confounding variables?
Children from the ERA were given up by loving families due to lack of money - less likely to be conditioned by other negative early experiences
What are the weaknesses of the institutionalisation studies?
Ethical issues (pressure & consent)
Individual differences (affects everyone differently)
How are there ethical issues in the institutionalisation studies?
No consent from actual orphans
May have caused psychological harm - being participants could create pressure and worry
How are there individual differences in the institutionalisation studies?
Some children are not as affected by institutionalisation as other children - may be due to different care
