Effects of Institutionalisation

Question 1

What is institutionalisation?

Answer 1

A term used to describe the effects of living in an institutional setting, such as an orphanage.

Question 2

What are the effects?

Answer 2

• Intellectual disability = characterised by low IQ
• Disinhibited attachment = you are equally affectionate towards familiar people and strangers

Question 3

Romanian orphan studies important points =

Answer 3

• Nicolae Ceausescu was a communist dictator in Romania between 1966 and 1989
• He was keen to increase the birth rate and required Romanian women to have five children
• Many Romanian parents could not afford to keep their children, and the children ended up in huge orphanages in very poor conditions.
• After the Romanian revolution in 1989, many of the children were adopted, some by British parents.

Question 4

Procedure into research of effects

Answer 4

• Rutter et al. {2011}
• ‘English and Romanian Adoptive study’
• Studied a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted into British families
• The Romanian orphans were tested at regular intervals (ages 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years) to assess their physical, cognitive and emotional development
• The progress of the Romanian orphans was compared to a control group of 52 British children who were all adopted before the age of 6 months

Question 5

Findings into research of effects

Answer 5

• When they were first adopted, the Romanian orphans lagged behind their British counterparts, and many showed signs of intellectual disability
• However, by the age of 11, some of the Romanian orphans had caught up with their British counterparts
• The majority of those who had caught up were adopted before the age of 6 months
• the Romanian orphans adopted after the age of 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment
• those adopted before the age of 6 months rarely showed signs of disinhibited attachment

Question 6

Conclusion of research into effects

Answer 6

• This suggests that the long-term consequences of institutionalisation may be less severe if children have the opportunity to form attachments before their critical period for attachment ends (at 6 months)