romanian orphans - institutionalisation Flashcards
privation
when children have never formed an attachment - more likely to happen in institutions if there’s poor emotional care although it can happen outside institutions when there’s severe neglect
rutter and sonuga-barke
led study of group of romanian orphans who spent early lives in romanian institutions
111 were adopted before age of 2 and a further 54 by age of 4.
adoptees tested at regular intervals (ages 4,6,11 and 15) to assess physical, cognitive and social development. progress was compared with control group of 52 british children adopted in UK before age of 6 months
at time of adoption, the romanian orphans lagged behind control group on all measures of development. were smaller, weighed less and were classified as having intellectual disability disorder.
rutter and sonuga-barke - findings
by age of 4, some had caught up to the control group - true for almost all romanian orphans adopted before age of 6 months
follow ups confirmed significant deficits remain in a substantial minority of individuals who experienced institutional care to beyond age of 6 months.
many orphans adopted after six months showed disinhibited attachments and had problems with peer relationships - suggests long term consequences may be less severe than once thought if children have opportunity to form attachments
evaluation - individual differences
may not be true that all children who experience institutionalisation are unable to recover - some children not as strongly affected as others
rutter - some children may have received special attention in the institution which might have enabled them to cope better - not possible to conclude that institutionalisation inevitably leads to inability to form attachments
evaluation - deprivation is only one factor
confounding variables - romanian orphans were faced with more than just emotional deprivation - physical conditions were appalling which impacted health, lack of cognitive stimulation also affected development.
for many institutionalised children, poor care in infancy is followed by poor subsequent care, such as living in poverty - effects of institutional care go beyond emotional deprivation.
evaluation - effects may be due to slower development
effects of institutionalisation do disappear over time if children have good quality emotional care - in last assessment at age 11, lower number of children had disinhibited attachment - ex institutional children may simply need more time than normal to learn how to cope with relationships.
