romanian orphan studies

• Rutter (2011) investigated long term effects of early institutionalisation and deprivation on childrens development

  • 165 romanian orphans adopted into Uk families, who experienced very poor conditions in orphanage
  • compared with CG of 52 british children adopted around same time
  • longitudinal study assessing children at 4, 6, 11, 15, 21 years- measured physical, cog, emotional development using interviews, observations and standardised tests
  • compared outcomes based age of adoption- before 6 months, between 6 months and 2 years, after 2 years
• findings:

  • half orphans had delayed intellectual development- low IQ/MR when came to UK
  • adopted before 6 months- mean IQ 102, normal development compared to CG, few signs of attachment issues
  • adopted after 2 years -more likely to show disinhibited attachment, IQ 77
• strength- naturally occurring experiment

  • allows researchers to study effects of extreme deprivation in real-life settings
  • e.g. children already experienced institutional care so no variables manipulated, avoids ethical issues of deliberately subjecting children to deprivation
  • enhances eco validity of findings as reflect real world conditions instead of artificial lab ones
  • increases generalisability + gives valuable insight into effects of institutionalisation
• strength- practical applications

  • led to improved care of children in institutional settings e.g. findings showed that those adopted before 6 months had better developmental outcomes
  • this used to encourage quicker placements with foster families, reducing time spent in orphanages
  • research has influenced care policy/practices, emphasising the need for better care+ importance of early attachments
  • improves lives of orphanage systems world wide
• weakness- SSR

  • study found children who spent longer period in orphanages showed more developmental delays and attachment issues
  • could reinforce neg perceptions of institutional care and stereotypes that they are inadequate beings
  • this could influence public policy and opinion, suggesting that those who experienced institutional care are incapable of rs of functioning adequately like getting jobs etc
  • leads to unrealistic views and causes harm to individuals
• weakness- lack of data on adult development

  • its too soon to determine whether the effects the children suffered are actually long lasting as the data only goes up to their 20s
  • suggests its possible that those adopted before 6 months may not be able to maintain romantic and parenting rs or maybe adopted after 2 years can have secure attachments with kids etc
  • lack of clarity on findings makes theory incomplete
• findings


  • differences continued to be apparent at age of 16 (beckett 2010)
  • frequency of disinhibited attachment relates to age of adoption- after 6 months were clingy, attention seekers, indiscriminate affection to strangers but rare in those before 6 months
  • supports bowlby 'sensitive period' in developing attachment + failure has long term effects
• Effects of instituitonalisation


  • low IQ/Mental retardation
  • disinhibited attachment
  • disorganised attachment
  • impaired adult rs
  • quasi autism
  • delayed language + physical development