Privation: effects of institutionalisation

• privation refers to a total lack of attachments being formed. this has been associated with long term damage to the child
• what three sources does evidence of privation come from?

  -> case studies

  -> Harlows monkey studies

  -> institutional research [strongest]
• Genie as a case study for privation

  -> 13 when found

  -> weighed 4 stone

  -> 4.5 ft tall

  -> she couldn't do any activity that involved stretching her limbs

  -> she was strapped to a potty chair during the day and restrained in a cot wearing a nappy at night

  -> she had two rows of teeth

  -> at first she showed progression in word learning but could never figure out grammar

  -> abused in foster care

  -> much of her left hemisphere was underdeveloped

  -> at 18 she was put in a home and never recovered
• Czech twins as a case study for privation


  -> mother died after birth

  -> the twins were put into a childrens home for 11 months, spent 6 months with their aunt, then stayed with their father and step mother

  -> they had low intelligence

  -> they were never allowed out of the house, kept in a small, unheated closet or in the cellar

  -> at 7 years old they had acute rickets, could hardly walk, were very fearful, and their speech [when they did speak] was poor

  -> they were placed in a hospital then a foster home

  -> they recovered as adults
• what factors might affect recovery after privation?

  -> twins had each other

  -> twins were younger when found [7 vs 13]

  -> genie was researched instead of being left to heal

  -> genie was treated poorly after being found, so she was unable to heal

  -> the twins recieved some care - an attachment may have already formed within 6 months

  -> extent of the privation

  -> how long spent in privation
• Harlows study of privation


  -> took baby rhesus monkeys and isolated them from birth. they had no contact with each other or anybody else.

  -> he kept some this way for 3 months, some for 6, some for 9, and some for 1 year

  -> he then put them back with other monkeys after their time
• what did harlow find in his study of privation

  -> he found that the monkeys engaged in bizarre behaviour such as clutching their own bodys and rocking compulsively

  -> when placed with other monkeys they were scared of the other monkeys then became aggressive. they couldn't communicate or socialise with other monkeys and they were bullied

  -> the monkeys also indulged in self mutilation - tearing out hair, scratching and biting their own arms and legs
• what did harlow conclude from his study of privation?

  -> privation is permanently damaging to monkeys

  -> the extent of the abnormal behaviour reflected the length of isolation

  -> those kept in isolation for 3 months were the least affected, but those in isolation for a year never recovered the affects of privation
• evaluation of harlows privation study

  -> harlows work his been criticised as his experiments have been seen as unnecessarily unethical and cruel and of limited value in attempting to understand the impact of privation on human infants.

  -> harlow also created a state of anxiety in female monkeys which had implications once they become parents. such monkeys became so neurotic that they smashed their infants face into the floor and rubbed it back and fourth
• how is harlows research useful

  -> monkeys are biologically similar to humans

  -> a way to study attachment without harming humans

  -> shows the continuity hypothesis

  -> mirrors in humans reaction to privation

  -> only source of information on attachment and the effects of privation
• why isnt harlows research useful

  -> human attachment is far higher in complexity

  -> it was very unethical

  -> monkeys are still very different to humans
• what is institutionalisation?


  refers to living in an institution where children live for a long, continuous period of time. in these places, there is often very little emotional care provided. research aims to study how this may affect the children
• Rutter [1998]

  -> he studied 111 romanian orphans adopted in the UK before the age of 2 years [critical period]

  -> on arrival they were physsically undersized and many suffered educationally

  -> by the age of 4 they had caught up

  -> age at adoption was negatively correlated with attainent of developmental milestones

  -> he concluded that the longer children in privation, the longer it will take them to recover, but recovery is possible.
• Rutter - 2007

  -> followed a group of 165 romanian orphans

  -> assessed them at 4 , 6 , 11 and 15 years old

  -> they spent early years in privation before adoption

  -> children adopted before the age of 6 months [attachment should form]

  -> showed normal levels of development when compared to children from the UK adopted at the same time

  -> children adopted after the age of 6 months showed disinhibited attachments and problems with their peers

  -> this shows that the long term consequences of privation may not be as severe as first thought
• what are the effects of institutionalisation?

  -> disinhibited attachment

  children are equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or whose who are strangers they just met. this is unusual as most children show stranger anxiety. Rutter believes this is an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period of attachment. in poor quality institutions a child may have 50 carers, none of whome they see enough to attach to
• what are the effects of institutionalisation?

  -> mental retardation

  in rutters study, most children showed signs of retardation when they arrived in britain. however, most of those adopted before 6 months recovered. the brains of young adults adopted from romania were 8.6 % smaller than english adoptees
• Zeanah et al 


  -> assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12 - 31 months

  -> spent most of their life in institutionalised care

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

  -> their attachment type was measured using the strange situation

  -> carers were asked about unusual social behaviour

  -> 74 % of the control group was securely attached

  -> 19 % of the institutional group was securely attached

  -> 65 % being classed as disorganised

  -> 44 % were. classified aas disinhibitedm attachments