the effects of institutionalization Flashcards
What is institutionalisation? (3)
- The term ‘institution’ refers to a place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for long, continuous periods of time.
- In such places there is often very little emotional care provided.
What are orphan studies
-These concern children placed in care because their parents cannot look after them.
-An orphan is a child whose parents have either died or have abandoned them permanently.
When does privation occur
-When children have never formed an attachment.
- This is more likely to happen in institutions if there is poor emotional care although it can happen also outside institutions in situations where there is severe neglect.
What is deprivation
Not receiving suitable emotional care from a primary attachment figure
What are the effects of insittuitaion (4)
- Physical underdevelopment e.g. deprivation dwarfism
- Intellectual under functioning (low IQ)
- Disinhibited attachment (Child doesn’t seem to have a preference over people as their attachment figure. The child seeks comfort and attention from virtually anyone, without distinction.)
- Poor parenting themselves e.g. Harlow’s
monkeys
-Delinquency
-Less empathetic
What was the method and findings and conclusions of the second study: the Bucharest (Romania) early intervention project
Zeanah et al (2005)
METHOD =
-Used the SS to assess the attachment in 95 children (12-31 months of age)
-These children spent most of their lives in institutional care.
-They were compared to a control group of 50 British children who had never been institutionalised
FINDINGS
-74% of the control group were securely attached.
-Only 19% of the other children were securely attached,
-65% were classified with disorganised attachment.
-44% of institutionalised children had disinhibited attachment compared to less than 20% of the control group.
CONCLUSION = children who were raised in institutions are less likely to show secure attachments perhaps due to not having had a primary attachment figure or even secondary attachments
practical applications - R&Z (+)
P = a strength of Romanian orphan studies is that they have led to successful practical applications
E = these studies have led to significant improvements in how children are looked after in institutions. Now, only 1 or 2 key workers are assigned to look after each child. The adoption process has also been shortened from an average of yrs to months and long term as opposed to short term fostering placements are much more achieved than it was in the past
E = this is a strength because the studies have made a positive contribution to the real world and by improving the well-being of thousands of children by providing them w/ stable and long term attachment bonds
Zeanah as evidence to support the effects of institutionalisation (+)
P = the negative effects of institutionalization is supported by research
E = for eg, Zeanah et al (2005) found that the children in the ING were less likely to be securely attached (w/ only 19% compared w/ 74% in control). Additionally, 65% of the ING were classified as ‘disorganised attachment’ and 44% of the ING were classified w/ ‘disinhibited attachment’.
E = this is a strength because the research suggests that spending time in institutional care leads to experiencing less secure and healthy attachment types
L = therefore, Zeanah’s research is strong evidence to strengthen the validity of the claim that institutional care leads to negative effects
AO1
- Likely effects include: effects identified by Bowlby (1946): e.g. affectionless
psychopathy, delinquency, low IQ. - Effects identified in privation studies: e.g. Harlow’s findings of delinquency,
affectionless behaviour. - ERA findings of quasi-autistic symptoms in Romanian orphans, impaired
language and social skills; disinhibited attachment; attention seeking,
clinginess; lower frequency of pretend play and reduced empathy (Kreppner et
al 1999); more likely to be classified as disorganised attachment type (Zeanah
et al 2005). - Credit links to theory – reactive attachment disorder; lack of internal working
model.
what was the procedure of Rutters ERA study
- Rutter followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee study (ERA)
- the adoptees were adopted by families in the uk
- the aim of this was to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions
- a group of 52 children in the uk were adopted around the same time, used as a control group
the children were assesed at ages 4,6,11,15, and 22-25
what were the findings of rutters ERA study
- when the children first arrived in the uk, half of the children showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were undernourished
- the earlier the child was adopted, the higher IQ they have
- children adopted after 6 months old showed signs of signs of disinhibited attachment (symptoms include attention seeking
- children adopted before the age of 6 months rarely show signs of displayed disinhibited attachment
Rutters study on the children being mentally retarded
In Rutter’s study the children were assessed as mentally retarded when they first arrived in Britian.Those adopted before the age of 6 months caught up by the age of 4.This suggest that emotional development and damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered if adoption takes place before the age of 6 months.
Lack of generalisabhlity
Lack Of Generalisability- The Romanian Orphanages were not typical of other types of Institutionalized care. The children were raised in extreme conditions where they were given poor care and very low levels of intellectual stimulation.
