Effects of institutionalisation

• What does institutionalisation refer to?

  Effects of living in an institutional setting
• What have researchers studied regarding institutional care?

  Effects on psychological development of children
• What are the main effects of institutionalisation on children?

  • Intellectual disability
  • Disinhibited attachment
• How is intellectual disability characterized in institutionalised children?

  By an abnormally low IQ
• What is disinhibited attachment in institutionalised children?

  Affectionate towards familiar people and strangers
• Why is disinhibited attachment considered unusual behavior?

  Children typically show stranger anxiety
• How is disinhibited attachment explained?

  As an adaptation to multiple caregivers
• What was the focus of Rutter et al.'s (2011) ERA study?

  • Studied Romanian orphans adopted into British families
  • Assessed physical, cognitive, and emotional development
• Who was Nicolae Ceausescu?

  Communist dictator of Romania (1966-1989)
• What policy did Ceausescu implement regarding childbirth?

  Required women to have five children
• What happened to many Romanian children due to poverty?

  They ended up in large orphanages
• What occurred after the Romanian revolution in 1989?

  Many children were adopted, some by British parents
• What was the procedure of Rutter et al.'s study?

  • Studied 165 Romanian orphans adopted into British families
  • Tested at ages 4, 6, 11, 15, and 22-25 years
  • Compared with a control group of 52 British children
• What was the initial finding regarding Romanian orphans when first adopted?

  They lagged behind British counterparts
• What happened to some Romanian orphans by age 11?

  Some caught up with British counterparts
• What was the mean IQ of Romanian orphans adopted before 6 months at age 11?

  $102$
• What was the mean IQ of Romanian orphans adopted between 6 months and 2 years at age 11?

  $86$
• What was the mean IQ of Romanian orphans adopted after 2 years at age 11?

  $77$
• What did the findings regarding IQ remain at age 15?

  Differences in IQ persisted
• What signs did Romanian orphans adopted after 6 months show?

  Signs of disinhibited attachment
• What was observed in those adopted before 6 months regarding disinhibited attachment?

  They rarely showed signs of disinhibited attachment
• What conclusion can be drawn about institutionalisation and attachment?

  • Long-term consequences may be less severe
  • Opportunity to form attachments before 6 months is crucial
• What is a strength of effects of institutionalisation

  Strength= results of research led to improvements in conditions now experienced by looked after children. E.g, children’s homes now avoid large no. caregivers for each child. Instead - each child - ‘key worker’ (plays central role in providing emotional care to child). Children’s homes - seen as undesirable option, + considerable effort made to accommodate children in foster care. Shows this research made  positive impact in real world.
• What is a strength of effects into institutionalisation

  1 Strength = research conducted on Romanian orphans - lack of confounding variables. In early orphan studies, many orphans involved experienced varying degrees of trauma. Therefore difficult to disentangle effects of that trauma from effects of institutional care. However, Romanian orphans had, mostly, been handed over by loving parents who simply could not afford to keep them. Results therefore unlikely been confounded by other negative early experiences, - high internal validity.
• What is a weakness of effects of institutionalisation

  Weakness = although lot of useful data abt effects of institutionalisation come from studies of Romanian orphans, findings cannot be generalised. Bcs Romanian orphanages had particularly poor standards of care. Orphans spent days alone in cribs w v little cognitive or emotional stimulation. Also severely malnourished. Means that findings cannot be applied to understanding the effects of better-quality institutional care. 
• What is a weakness of effects of institutionalisation

  Weakness = although studies of Romanian orphans followed orphans into their early twenties, too soon to say whether effects of institutionalisation = long-term. E.g possible that orphans adopted later will catch up w orphans adopted earlier, during later adulthood. Equally possible that orphans adopted earlier + appear to have no issues will experience emotional problems during adulthood. Suggests that we are currently unable to draw any firm conclusions about the long-term effects of institutionalisation.