Effects of institutionalisation

Effects of institutionalisation

1. Institutionalisation is the effect of institutional care.

2. Concerns how spending time in an institution such as an orphanage can affect development of children, i.e. physically and mentally.

3. Rutter and Barke lead a study of a group of Romanian orphans since the 1990s and the city is called ERA ‘English and Romanian adoptees’.

   • 165 Romanian kids.
   • 111 adopted before age 2, 54 by aged 4.
   • Assessed at regular intervals ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 to assess their physical and cognitive and social development.
   • Information was also given by teachers and parents.
   • The control group was 52 British adopted children
   • The Romanian orphans lagged behind their British counterparts at all measures.
   • They were smaller weighed less & classified as mentally retarded.
   • Almost all of those adopted age 6 months had caught up to the British kids around four years old.

4. Effects of institutionalisation:

   • Physical underdevelopment – usually smaller. Lack of emotional care rather than poor nutrition = deprivation dwarfism.
   • Intellectual under functioning – cognitive development is affected by emotional deprivation.
   • Disinhibited attachment – insecure attachment where children don’t discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures. They will treat strangers with inappropriate familiarity and attention seeking
   • Poor parenting- Harlow’s monkeys went on to be bad parents. Quinton et al compared 50 women reared in institutions to a control group on 50 women reared at home. The women from the care homes experienced a lot of issues with parenting compared to the control.

5. Deprivation is only one factor

   • R O experienced much more than emotional deprivation. Physical conditions were appalling = health implications. Lack of cognitive stimulation.
   • Likely that multiple factors occur damage.
   • Poor care in infancy leads to living in poverty when older.

6. Value of longitudinal studies

   • High internal validity
   • Shows the progression of children and can account for a variety of changes they made endure.

7. Individual difference

   • Some are not as strongly affected as others. Some may have experienced special treatment in the orphanage.
   • Bowlby’s research on the TB children supports individual differences