romanian orphan studies

• as institutions are unable to provide the same level of physical and emotional care to young children as families, institutionalisatioon is thought to influence childhood development negatively
• deprivation: not recieving suitable emotional care from a primary attachment figure due to frequent or extended absences of the primary caregiver
• privation: total lack of care so there is no ability to form an attachment bond
• rutter ERA

  conducted a longitudinal study of 165 romanian orphans who lacked physical and emotional care from staff; many were malnourished and abused. they were then adopted into British families
• rutter procedure

  children were adopted while under 6 months, between 6 months and 2 years, and older than two years. each group were assessed at the ages of 4,6,11 and 15
• rutter main findings

  age 6: overly friendly behaviour to strange adults (disinhibited attachment) was more common in infants adopted after 2 years old

  age 11: children adopted after 6 months showed delayed physical, emotional and intellectual development
• rutter main findings

  children adopted after 24 months had an average IQ of 77

  intellectual problems continued at the 15 year follow up

  in a small number of cases, quasi-autism tendencies were identified
• practical applications

  romanian orphans research has changed policies around adoption and care in orphanages
• hodges and tizard found children adopted into caring families coped better on measures of behavioural and peer relationships than children returned to abusive families

  Goldfarb found that early fostering led to significantly higher levels of mental ability IQ and social skills
• the children in rutter's ERA study were not randomly assigned for adoption but were selected by the new parents in Romania, it is possible this resulted in a bias, with the more sociable children picked for adoption at a younger age
• bowlby argues that if children miss a window for development, the harm is permanent. however, orphan studies that show recovery suggest a sensitive period; the damage caused, while severe, can be addressed with later care