The effects of institualisation Flashcards
what is institutionalisation
the effect of living in an institution where there is little emotional care provided affecting development
the 4 effects of institutionalisation
Disinhibited Attachment
Mental Retardation
Deprivation Dwarfism (physical underdevelopment)
Poor Parenting
what is a disinhibited attachment
they’re equally friendly/affectionate to people they know well and strangers
displaying no stranger anxiety
Due to living with multiple caregivers during the critical period (birth - 2.5 years of age)
what is mental retardation
where the infants intellectual growth has slowed down
this can be reversed by age 4 if their adopted before 6 mnths of age
symptoms: impaired language, poor social skills and reduced empathy
what is physical underdevelopment in infants who have been institutionalised
deprivation dwarfism is where children are usually smaller than average due to a lack of emotional care
what is poor parenting in people who were institutionalised
later life impact
50 women who were raised in an institution had extreme difficulties being parents compared to 50 women raised at home - Quinton et al (1984)
who researched institutionalisation in infants
RUTTER (2010)
what was the aim of rutters research
to investigate institutionnalisation in romanian infants
what was the procedure of rutters research
sample: 165 romanian children who spent their early lives in romanian institutions
111 were adopted by age 2 the other 54 were adopted by age 4
They were tested at ages 4,6,11,15 to assess the physical, cognitive and social development
Their progress was compared with british orphans who were adopted before the age of 6 months
what were the findings of rutters research (2010)
at the time of adoption the romanian orphans were behind in their development
at age 4 those who had been adopted before the age of 6 months had caught up
those who had been adopted after 6 months had disinhibited attachments
at age 11 children adopted before 6 months had an IQ of 102, children adopted between 6 months and 2 years had an IQ of 86 and those adopted after 2 years had an IQ of 77
what did rutter concluded from his research into romanian orphans
long term consequences were less severe if the children had a chance to form an attachment if not able to form attachment the consequences were servere
strengths of the research into the effects of institutionalisation
p: theres real life application
e: e.g orphanages now avoid having large numbers of carers for each child, instead using the same key worker for the same group of children, playing a central role for the child
e: this helps to avoid the children developing a disinhibited attachment
l: this research is useful to us as its had positive impacts on adoption practises
limitations of research into the effect of institutionalisation
p:it is too soon to tell if the effects are long term
e: many of the studies have been followed up the orphans into their late teens and found some lasting effects, however its to soon to tell if the effects are short or long term it may be osme are lagging behind and will catch up
e: this suggests that further research is needed over the lifetime of these kids to observe if the effects are long term
l: the studies don’t offer a complete picture of the effects of institutionalisation
