3.3 Romanian Orphan Studies

Question 1

What is institutionalisation?

Answer 1

A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting e.g a hospital or orphanage

Question 2

What is disinhibited attachment?

Answer 2

Attachment type common in those who have been institutionalised for long periods, where they are equally affectionate and friendly to strangers and familiar people

Question 3

What did Rutter (2006) suggest about disinhibited attachment

Answer 3

• An adaptation to having multiple caregivers during the sensitive period of attachment
• In poor quality institutions, children could have up to 50 carers none whom they were securely attached

Question 4

Describe Rutter et al’s (2011) English Romanian adoptee study (ERA)

Answer 4

• Aimed to investigate extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions
• Followed group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted by UK families
• Physical, cognitive, emotional development assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years
• Group of 52 UK adoptees used as control group
• When children first arrived, half showed delayed intellectual development and majority severely undernourished
• At age 4 adoptees showed signs of cognitive delay and majority malnourished
• At age 11 children showed differential rates of recovery related to age of adoption
• Children adopted before 6 months had higher IQ (102) and rarely showed disinhibited attachment
• Differences in development remained at age 16

Question 5

Describe Zeanah et al’s (2005) Bucharest Early Intervention Project study (BEI)

Answer 5

• Assessed attachment in 95 Romanian children who had spent most their lives in institutional care
• Compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an insititution
• Attachment type measures using strange situation and carers asked about unusual social behaviours
• Found 74% of control group classed as securely attached compared to only 19% of institutional group
• Description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children compared to less than 20% of controls

Question 6

What are the 2 effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 6

• Disinhibited attachment
• Intellectual disability

Question 7

AO3 for Romanian orphan studies

Answer 7

1. Real-world application:
Can improve living conditions of children, improved understanding of early effects of institutionalisation and prevention, led to improvements in conditions e.g care homes now avoid large numbers of caregivers, children tend to have one or two ‘key workers’, effort made to accommodate foster children, children able to form normal attachments/disinhibition avoided

2. Fewer confounding variables:
in past studies before roman orphans the orphans studied had experienced trauma, difficult to separate effects of neglect/trauma from institutionalaisation, children in roman orphan studies were handed over by loving parents who were poor, results less likely to be confounded by early experiences
Counterpoint: romanian orphans introduced to many confounding variables, quality of care was poor, harmful effects may have been due to poor institutional care

3. Lack of adult data:
Data from ERA looked at children in early/mid 20s, we dont have current data about long-term effects of institutionalisation e.g mental health/relationships, this data would be hard/long to collect due to longitudinal design, it will take a while to completely understand the long-term effects