institutionalisation

• institutionalisation is when children are taken away from their caregivers and spend long periods of time in institutions that are governed by strict rules and norms and are frequently care restricted
• nicolae ceausescu:

  -romanian communist dictator

  -banned abortion and contraception leading to a rise in birth rate

  -rationing food

  -many children left abandoned and joined in orphanages by disabled and mentally ill
• rutler-investigated the effects of institutionalisation:

  -studied 165 romanian orphans adopted by british families and 52 british orphans also adopted

  -conducted a longitudinal study and assed them at 4,6,11 and 15 by using IQ, emotional and social tests
• rutlers findings:

  -children adopted within the first 6 months developed as normal emotionally with an IQ of 102

  -however those adopted between 6 months and 2 years had an IQ of 86 and after 2 years had an IQ of 77
• rutlers conclusion:

  -those adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment

  -attention seeking, clinginess and social behaviour is directed towards all adults
• zeahan et al (2005):

  -assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their life in institutional care

  -compared to a control of 50 children who had never lived in an institution

  -attachment measured using strange situation

  -also asked careers about any unusual social behaviours
• zeahan et al findings:

  -74% of control group were securely attached compared to only 19% of the institutional group

  -65% of institutional group classified as disorganised attachment

  -disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutional group compared to 20% of control
• institutionalisation studies are not generalisable as the romanian orphanages had extreme conditions of poverty which would not have been the same across all institutions
• institutionalisation studies are not reliable as they is no data available of their behaviour across adulthood
• institutionalisation studys are not valid as their could have been many other confounding variables which affects the children’s attachment style e.g bereavement