Insitutionalisation

Question 1

What is institutionalisation ?

Answer 1

Long-term effects or consequences of living in an institution for a continuous amount of time

Question 2

What were the conditions of the Romanian orphan’s ?

Answer 2

• understaffed
• unhygienic
• lack of stimulation
• lack of food

Question 3

What were the effects of the Romanian orphan’s ?

Answer 3

• low IQ
• treated like animals
• distressed
• no social contact
• restrained
• rocking
• malnourished
• injured
• deprivation dwarfism

Question 4

What was Rutter’s procedure ?

Answer 4

Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain.
Physical, cognitive + emotional development assessed at 4,6,11,15
Control = 52 British children adopted at the same time

Question 5

What were the findings of Rutter’s study on Romanian Orphan’s ?

Answer 5

When they first arrived in the UK, half the adoptee’s showed signs of mental retardation, majority malnourished.
The less time with separated, the higher IQ:
Adopted less than 6 months old: 102 (IQ score)
Adopted from 6 months - 2 years : 86 (iQ score)
Adopted after 2 years old: 77 (IQ score)
The longer in an institution, the more likely to have the disinhibited personality type. (children don’t know how to form close attachment)

Question 6

What are strength’s of the Institutionalisation ?

Answer 6

Strength: Real world application
Helped improve conditions, ensure 2 key workers to provide continuity and stability. This helps reduce effects of institutionalised.

Strength: Methodological research
Control group, longitudinal research. This improves validity and leads to consistent findings

Question 7

What are the limitations of institutionalisation ?

Answer 7

Limitation: Studies may be unrepresentative
May be different to experiences elsewhere. These effects may be specific to Romania

Limitation: Unsure of long-term impact of institutionalisation
Look at latest findings which are people aged mid 20’s, no studied any further.
This means that we can’t see how it affects later in life and if it can ever be overcome.

Question 8

What is the difference between privation and deprivation ?

Answer 8

Privation = never having an attachment to a mother figure
Deprivation = Having a mother taken away and losing the attachment to the PCG.