Effects of Institutionalisation

Page 1

Rutter (English & Romanian Adoptee study):

Rutter followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions

Physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years

A group of British orphans adopted around the same time served as a control group

When they first arrived in the UK half the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished

At age 11 the adopted children showed different rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption

The mean IQ of children adopted before the age of 6 months was 102 compared with 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years, and 77 for those adopted after 2 years. These differences remained at age 16

Children adopted after they were 6 months showed disinhibited attachment whereas children adopted before 6 months didn't

Good internal validity because there are no confounding variables such as abuse or bereavement

Children were not randomly assigned to conditions and researchers did not interfere with the adoption process meaning the children that were adopted may have been the more sociable ones, a confounding variable

Page 2

Bucharest Early Intervention Project:

Zeneah - Romanian Orphan Study:

They assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives (about 90%) in institutional care

They were compared to a control group of 50 children who never lived in an institution

Their attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation. In addition carers were asked about disinhibited attachment behaviours

They found that 74% of the control group were securely attached however only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached with 65% described as disorganised attachment

44% of the institutional group showed disinhibited attachment to compared to 20% of the control group

Studying Romanian orphans has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation which has led to the improvements

Conditions were so bad in Romanian orphanages results cannot be applied to understanding the impact of better quality institutional care. This is a limitation because the unusual situational variables means the study lacks generalisability

Page 3

Effects of institutionalisation:

Disinhibited attachment - a typical effect of spending time in an institution. They are equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or who are strangers they have just met. Rutter explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation. In poor quality institutions like those in Romania, a child might have 50 carers, none of whom they see enough to form a secure attachment

Mental retardation - in Rutter's study, most children showed signs of retardation when they arrived in Britain. However most of those adopted before they were 6 months old caught up with the control group by age 4. Damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months.