effects of institutionalisation

Question 1

explain what is meant by institutionalisation

Answer 1

behaviour patterns of children who have been raised in an institution, such as an orphanage

Question 2

outline the procedure of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study

Answer 2

• 165 Romanian orphans adopted into Britain to test to what extent good care could make up for bad experiences in institutional care
• assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, 15
• control group of 52 British children adopted before the age of 6 months

Question 3

outline the findings of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study

Answer 3

• at time of adoption Romanians lagged behind control group in all areas of development
• Romanian children adopted before the age of 6 months had caught up to British children
• children who experienced institutional care after 6 months had problems with peer relationships and showed disinhibited attachments

Question 4

outline the conclusions of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study

Answer 4

• long term consequences less severe if children have the opportunity to form attachments
• when children don’t form attachments that the consequences can be severe

Question 5

explain disinhibited attachment as an effect of institutionalisation

Answer 5

• children equally affectionate to people they know as well as strangers which is unusual
• Rutter argues this is the result of adapting to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period

Question 6

explain intellectual disability as an effect of institutionalisation

Answer 6

• neurodevelopmental disorder
• most children showed signs of this when they arrived in Britain
• however most of these adopted by 6 months caught up with the control group suggesting damage can be recovered
• backs up Schafer’s stages of attachment

Question 7

explain difficulty forming attachments as an effect of institutionalisation

Answer 7

• no maternal caregiver and therefore a negative internal working model
• means infants will be unable to form successful relationships in the future

Question 8

explain how investigating the effects of institutionalisation has led to real world applications

Answer 8

• led to improvements in orphanages and care homes
• child to adult ratios lowered and attempts to adopt children as early as possible
• use of key workers to give children consistent care

Question 9

explain the benefits of using longitudinal research to investigate the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 9

• allows researchers to explore dynamic rather than static concepts
• important for understanding how people move from one situation to another and how they progress overtime

Question 10

give some evaluation points of Rutter’s Romanian orphan study

Answer 10

• effects on older children may be due to other factors
• longitudinal study
• natural experiment
• adopted group may be more socially skilled
• all Romanian so may not be the same for all children