orphan studies

• Romania context

  • Regime wanted to boost the population so banned birth control and contraception
  • families could not afford to look after large amount of children so many were abandoned
  • these abandoned children were placed into institutions which had extremely poor conditions and were given a lack of care
  • Ceausescu communist regime in Romania fell in 1989 and light was shed on the orphans
  • Many were adopted by people in the west (Europe and Canada).

  institutionalisation refers to living arrangements outside the family e.g. childrens homes, orphanage or hospital

  privation is the failure to form an attachment and results in negative consequences
• Rutter and Songua-Barke (2011)

  • Studied 165 Romanian orphans adopted before 2 years by UK families.
  • Physical, cognitive, and emotional development was assessed at age 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years and compared to a control group.
  • Many showed signs of delayed intellectual development and were severely undernourished.
  • On arrival in the UK many had impaired language and social skills, physical, cognitive and social developmental delay.
  • The mean IQ of those adopted before 6 months was 102, 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years and 77 for those adopted after 2 years.

  Children who were adopted after 6 months of age showed signs of disinhibited attachment (attention seeking, clinginess, social behaviour towards familiar and unfamiliar adults). Those adopted before 6 months old rarely displayed disinhibited attachment. Disinhibited attachment persisted at age 6 and in over 50% at age 11.
• other orphan studies 1

  La Mare and Audet (2006)

  36 romanian orphans adopted by canadian families.

  orphans were physically smaller than a control group at age 4, but the difference had disappeared by age 10

  this suggests that the effects of institutionalisation on physical development are not permanent
• other orphan studies 2

  Zeenah et al (2005)

  Romanian children who had spent 90% of their lives in an institution were compared to a control group. Attachment type was measured using the strange Situation.

  19% of the institutional group had a secure attachment compared to 74% of the control group. 44% of the institutionalised group were categorised as disorganised attachment.

  Bucharest Early Intervention Project found children were more likely to be classified as disorganised attachment type and less likely to be classified as securely attached.
• other orphan studies 3

  Chugani et al. (2001) Privation can affect brain structure/function. PET scans showed attention deficits and decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and brain stem in a sample of 10 Romanian orphans.

  Concluding the stress of early deprivation and might be linked to the long-term cognitive and behavioural deficits.
• effects of institutionalisation

  • intellectual disability (low IQ)
  • delayed language development
  • quasi autism
  • disinhibited attachment
  • more likely to be disorganised attachment
  • delayed physical development
  • impaired relationships
  • loss of personal identity
  • affectionless psychopathy
• institutionalisation evaluation 1

  P Research has enhanced our understanding of negative effects and changed the way looked after children are cared for.

  E Children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child.

  E Research has led to the establishment of key workers in institutions.

  L The importance of early adoption and quality and stability of aftercare is recog-nised. Babies are adopted as early as possible and adoptive mothers and children are as securely attached as non-adoptive families (Singer et al., 1985).
• institutionalisation evaluation 2

  P The Romanian orphans faced more than emotional deprivation.

  E The quality of care and physical conditions in the institutions were appalling.

  E The lack of cognitive stimulation would also affect their development. The children were malnourished, received very little intellectual stimulation or comfort.

  L There are some problems of generalising from Romanian studies as standards of care were particularly poor.
• institutionalisation evaluation 3

  P Evidence suggests that adverse effects of institutionalisation can be overcome with adequate substitute care.

  E Rutter’s findings showed improvements in the adopted children over time. Damage to intellectual development can be recovered if adoption takes place before the age of 6 months.

  Le Mare and Audet found physical underdevelopment improved.

  E The effects of institutionalisation do disappear over time if children have good quality emotional care.

  L This shows the importance of age of adoption and quality and stability of aftercare in overcoming the effects of institutionalisation. The effects can be overcome by sensitive and nurturing care.