Effects of institutionalisation Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is institutionalisation
Term for the effects of living in an institutional setting.
- ‘institution’ refers to a
place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for long, continuous periods of
time. - In such places there is often very little emotional care provided.
What are the effects of institutionalisation
Disinhibited Attachment
Intellectual delay
Disorganised attachment
What is disinhibited attatchment
Child is equally friendly, affectionate and attention-seeking towards people they know well or who are strangers. Unusual as most infants show stranger anxiety by 2 years of age
- Behaviour may be due to orphans having had up to 50 carers during their sensitive
period and so were not able to form a secure attachment with any of them
What is intellectual delay
Institutionalised children often show signs of intellectual delay.
- This effect is not as pronounced if the children are adopted before 6 months of age.
What is disorganised attatchment
Institutionalised children may show a disorganised attachment type.
- This type cannot be identified as they show signs of all types interchangeably.
What was the aim of Rutters study
investigate to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in childhood.
What was the method of Rutters study
165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain were longitudinally assessed for physical, cognitive, and emotional development at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years of
age.
52 British children adopted around the same time served as a control group.
What did the results of Rutters study show about intellectual delay
Half of the orphans showed intellectual delay when they came to the UK.
At age 11 recovery rates were related to
their age of adoption:
* Those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102
* Those adopted between 6 mths and 2 yrs had a mean IQ of 86
* Those adopted after 2 yrs had a mean IQ of 77
What did the results of Rutters study show about disinhibited attachment
Frequency of disinhibited attachment related to the age of adoption:
- Apparent in children adopted after 6 mths old: clinginess, attention-seeking and
indiscriminate affection to strangers.
- Rare in children adopted before the age of six months.
What was the conclusion of Rutters study
Findings support the view that there is a sensitive period in the development of attachments
– failure to form an attachment before the age of six months appears to have long lasting effects in terms of a
child’s IQ and their attachment.
What was the aim of Zeanah et al’s study
investigate type of attachment in children who have been institutionalised.
What was the method of Zeanah et al’s study
Researchers used the Strange Situation to assess the attachment in 95 children aged 12 – 31 months who
had spent most of their lives in institutional care.
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never experienced institutional care.
What were the results of Zeanah et al’s study
-
74% of the control group were found to be securely attached, as compared with only 19% of the institutional
group. - 65% of the institutional group were classified with ‘disorganised attachment’
- 44% of the institutional group were classified with ‘disinhibited attachment’ ascompared with only 20% of the controls.
What was the conclusion of Zeanah et al’s study
Findings support the view that children who are raised in institutions are less likely to show secure attachments
perhaps due to not having had a primary attachment figure or even any secondary attachment figures.
What are strengths of orphan studies
Practical applications
Reliable
What are limitations of orphan studies
Long-term effects unclear
Children were not randomly assigned to conditions (Rutter)
Evaluate practical applications as a strength of orphan studies
P: Successful practical applications.
E: Led to significant improvements in how children are looked after in institutions.
Nowadays, only one or two ‘key workers’ are assigned to look after each child. Additionally, the adoption process has been shortened from an average of years to months, and long-term as opposed to short term fostering placements are much more frequently achieved than in the past.
E: Strength because the studies have made a positive contribution to the real world and by improving the well-being of thousands of children as they have more stable, long-term substitute attachment bonds.
Evaluate reliability as a strength of orphan studies
P: Findings are reliable.
E: Morison and Elwood (2005) found exactly the same results with a group of Romanian orphans adopted by Canadian parents.
E: Strength because it shows that both Rutter and Zeanah’s conclusions regarding the effects of institutionalisation have external reliability. Therefore, this adds weight to the theory that institutionalisation can have long term effects but that these effects can be reduced by early adoption.
Evaluate unclear long term effects as a limitation of orphan studies
P: The long-term effects of early experience are not clear.
E: It is too soon to say for certain whether children suffered long or short-term effects because the adopted orphans have only been followed into their mid-teens. The children who currently lag in
Intellectual development or display attachment difficulties may ‘catch up’ as adults. Equally, those who were adopted earlier and currently appear to have no issues may experience problems
as adults.
E: Limitation of the research into the effects of institutionalisation because it may be the
conclusions drawn may not be valid.
Evaluate the fact that children were not randomly assigned to conditions as a limitation of Rutters study
P: The children were not randomly assigned to conditions.
E: Rutter et al did not interfere with the adoption process, so those children adopted early may have been more sociable ones and the ones adopted later may be naturally less sociable, which may be a confounding variable.
E: Limitation of Rutter’s research because the conclusions about the effects of
institutionalisation may not be valid.
