Effects Of Instituionalisation Flashcards
What is privation?
Where a child has never had an attachment to its mother or caregiver
What is the key study into the effects of institutionalisation?
Rutter et al (2007) - Romanian Orphan Study
What type of study was the Romanian orphan study?
Longitudinal
What were the 2 groups in the Romanian orphan study?
111 Romanian orphans who were adopted by British families
52 UK adoptees
How old were the orphans when they were adopted?
Some were younger than 6 months and some were older than 6 months
At what ages was each child assessed during the Romanian orphan study?
4, 6 and 11
What were the findings of the Romanian orphan study for the Romanian orphans that were younger than 6 months at the time of adoption?
The Romanian orphans that were younger than 6 months at the time of adoption had the same level of emotional development as the UK children adopted at the same age.
What were the findings of the Romanian orphan study for the Romanian orphans that were older than 6 months at the time of adoption?
They showed signs of insecure attachments and social problems (the UK children that were older than 6 months didn’t show these problems)
What is the conclusion from the Romanian orphan study?
The effects of privation can be reversed if an attachment starts to form before the age of 6 months. Long-term effects are more permanent if attachment doesn’t start to occur within 6 months.
What was said about maternal deprivation after the findings of the Romanian orphan study?
Maternal deprivation on its own doesn’t cause permanent effects because the UK adopted children had been separated but didn’t show any problems.
What is the real life application from the Romanian orphan study?
Improvements made in the way children are cared for by institutions
Why is it difficult to generalise the results of the Romanian orphan study?
The standards of the Romanian institutions were extremely poor and so the results may not be generalisable because other institutions may have higher quality care
