Institutionalisation

• Institutionalisation refers to effect of living in a institutionalised setting
• Rutter (1972) suggested that Bowlby may have oversimplified the concept of maternal deprivation
• Privation - child fails to develop an attachment
• Deprivation - refers to the loss or damage to an attachment
• Rutter study;

  • Followed 165 Romanian children who previously lived in institutions
  • There was a mix of children, majority adopted before 6 months and a few after 6 months
  • They were compared to 52 British children adopted by age of 6 months
  • Half of the Romanian children were classified as intellectually disabled and many malnourished
  • By 4 most Romanian children who had been adopted before 6 months had caught up with British children
  • Those adopted after 6 months showed difficulties and disinhibition
• Disinhibition attachment - children dont seem to prefer their parents over other people, even strangers
• Rutter concluded effects of privation can be overturned if an attachment is formed in the first 6 months - after 6 months there may be negative effects
• One evaluation of Rutter ideas is Romanian orphanages are not typical
• Romanian orphanages are not typical meaning the conditions were so bad that it is harder to generalise these findings to other orphanages which provide a better standard of care
• One evaluation to Rutter idea is that it has high internal validity
• Rutters study has high internal validity as he used a range of age appropriate measurements to assess the children’s behaviour - helped him gather rich detailed data on the children
• An evaluation to Rutter idea is it has real-life application
• Rutter study has real life application as it enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation and has lead to improvements in childcare

  • Children has key workers