Rutter's study

• What was the aim of Rutter's study?

  To study the effects of institutionalisation, and whether good care could compensate for the privation the children had suffered.
• What is institutionalisation?

  When privation occurs through childcare which involves the child living there for a long period of time, such as that provided by orphanages and children's homes.
• What was the procedure of Rutter's study?

  Used a longitudinal study and natural experiment, using a group of 165 Romanian orphans and assessed them at ages 4,6 and 11, then re-assessed them 21 years later.
• What were the findings of Rutter's study?

  Those who were adopted by British families before 6 months old showed 'normal' emotional development compared with UK children adopted at the same age. Many adopted after 6 months old showed disinhibited attachments and had problems with peers.
• What was the conclusion of Rutter's study?

  The results suggest long-term consequences may be less severe than was once thought if children have the opportunity to form attachments. When children don't form attachments. the consequences are likely to be severe.

  So?:

  Children exposed to privation are more likely to make a fuller recovery if adopted into a caring environment at an early age.