Romanian studies: Rutter Flashcards
procedure
- 165 romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test what extent good care would make up for poor early experiences in institutions
- ages 4,6,11,15- physical, cognitive, emotional development
- control group of 52 british children adopted around same time
findings
- when they were first arrived, the romanian orphans showed damages to intellectual development
- adopted by 6 months- IQ 102
- 6 months- 2 years- IQ 86
- after 2 years- IQ 77 adopted
disinhibited attachment, what age do they show it
after 6 months
- attention seeking, clinginess, social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar
conclusion
effects of institutionalisation are more likely to be reversed the early you are adopted (goes against Bowlby as Bowlby stated the effects are irreversible)
effects of Institutionalisation
- disinhibited attachments
- physical + intellectual underdevelopment
- lack of internal working model (difficult to form close relationships and interact with peers)
- quasi autism -difficultly understanding social contexts
strength
internal validity is high
- orphans were abandoned to the institution when they were born they would have not experienced any significant trauma, many previous researchers used children who had suffered either trauma, neglect, abuse etc
strength
real life practicals
- led to improvements on the way infants are cared for in orphanages and updates to adoption policies
weakness
long term effects of institutionalisation are not clear
- adopted orphans only been followers into their mid-teens, so no long term effects shown as they may have fixed their issues
- they may also drop out
Institutionalisation
The psychological effects of being raised in an institutional settings such as an orphanage due to a lack of attachment because of inadequate emotional care provided
