evaluation of romanian orphan studies - institutionalisation

• Strength: romanian orphans study is real world application

  results from research have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions

  children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child, the have one or two ‘key workers’ who play a central role

  means children in institutional care have a chance to develop normal attachments and disinhibited attachment is avoided
• Strength: fewer confounding variables than other research

  there were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphans became available to study. often involved children who experienced loss or trauma before they were institutionalised

  neglect, abuse and bereavement meant it was hard to observe the effects of institutionalisation in isolation. the children were affected by multiple factors functioning as confounding variables

  means we can be fairly sure that differences in institutionally cared for children are the result of this type of care (high internal validity)
• Counterpoint

  ROSs may have confounding variables bc quality of care was so poor making it hard to separate effects of institutional care from those of poor institutional care

  means internal validity might be better in previous studies after all
• Limitation: lack of data on adult development 

  it is too soon to say for certain whether children suffered permanent effects bc we only have data on their development as far as their early twenties

  it will be some time before we have some information about some key research questions (e.g. orphans’ ability to form and maintain romantic and parenting relationships

  means the ROSs have not yet yielded their most important findings, some children may ‘catch up’
• Limitation: social sensitivity 

  later adopted children were shown to have low IQ. might subsequently affect how they are treated by parents, teachers etc and might create a self fulfilling prophecy

  much has been learned from the ROSs that might benefit future institutionalised or potentially institutionalised children

  the potential benefits of the studies probably outweigh their social sensitivity