Effects of institutionalisation

• What is privation?

  Failure to form any sort of attachment
• What was the study of Rutter et al (2007)?

  Romanian orphans
• Procedure of Rutter et al (2007) ?

  • Romanian orphans were adopted by UK families and compared with 52 adopted UK borns before 6 months old
  • The Romanian orphans entered orphanages between 1-2 weeks old. Conditions were very poor with severe malnourishment.
  • This even caused them to be in the bottom ⅓ of population for weight and head size
  • 58 babies were adopted before 6 month and the other 59 between 6-24 months
  • Children were followed at ages 4,6 and 11 using interviews, parent reports and observation of the child’s behaviour
• IQ findings of Bowlby of the orphans?

  • At age 4, Romanian orphans when first arrived, showed evidence of severe cognitive deficiency and malnourishment. 
  • Most before 6 months caught up with the UK adoptees in cognitive ability by age 4. Those after 6 months had on-going deficits
  • At Age 11: Differences in IQ persisted, those adopted before 6 months meant that the iq was 102, if after 6 months was 86
• Attachment findings of the study?

  • Age 6
  • Rutter et al found evidence of disinhibited attachment - pattern of attention seeking behaviours with lack of selectivity in social relationships (Rutter’s waffle)
  • Children with this were more likely to go off with strangers and make inappropriate contact with strangers. This was more likely in those adopted after 6 months
  • UK adoptees - 3.8% disinhibition
  • Before 6 months - 8.9%
  • After 6 months - 26.1%

  Age 11 - These differences greatly persisted
• Conclusion?

  • Conclusion - Effects of living in this kind of institution could be long term.
  • Effects of institutionalisation can be reduced with extra effort and with early adoption.
• Positive of being a longitudinal study?

  • It is a longitudinal study.
  • It uses a range of measures like interviews, parent reports, teacher reports and observation.
  • This provides a rich and detailed picture of adoptees in different areas of development.
  • This provides both qualitative and quantitative data
  • Using different research methods to overcome weakness of other methods, called triangulation
• Negative of being a longitudinal study?

  • It had issues like people dropping halfway from the experiment due to its long nature
  • This is called attrition.
  • It is likely that certain people, are more likely to drop out, this will cause bias in the sample
  • It is possible that more troubled children also dropped out of the study
  • The true effects of privation may not be known as children with the biggest issues are no longer studied.
  • There is also an issue with researcher bias in getting to know the families and children.
  • It may lack validity.
• Positive implications of the experiment?

  • Itr has positive implications
  • - Most babies adopted in the first week of birth and the adopted families show as much secure attachment as those in non-adopted families.
  • This led to changes in institution around the world with more emotional care and higher child to staff ratio
  • Therefore, Rutter's research is beneficial as it means that children may not be as emotionally and intellectually affected due to the quicker adoption of the children.
• Disadvantage of being a natural experiment?

  • IV is naturally occurring and study takes place naturally, we cannot infer cause and effect.
  • It may not be institutionalisation alone that makes children more disinhibited as some children develop secure attachments even after 6 months:
  • The temperament hypothesis would argue innate characteristics cause attachment type which explains individual differences in each group. 
  • Rutter suggested that it could be children who smile more get more attention in orphanage and have early attachment experiences
  • Environment in adoptive home can also determine the attachment type