Rutter et al. (2007) A Longitudinal study of Romanian orphans

Question 1

Method

Answer 1

• 111 Romanian orphans who were adopted by British families were compared with a group of 52 UK doptees and followed over a prolonged period,
• Some of the orphans were adopted before they were 6 months old and some were older than 6 months,
• Each child was assessed at ages 4, 6, and 11.

Question 2

Results

Answer 2

• Children who were younger than 6 months when they were adopted had the level of emotional development as other UK children who were adopted at the same age,
• The Romanian orphans who were older than 6 months at adoption showed signs of insecure attachments and social problems,
• The UK children who were older than 6 months at adoption didn’t show the same problems.

Question 3

Conclusion

Answer 3

• The effects of privation can be reversed if an attachment starts to form before the ages of 6 months,
• Long-term effects are more permanent if attachment doesn’t start to occur within 6 months,
• Maternal deprivation on its own doesn’t cause permanent effects because the UK adopted children had been separated but didn’t show any problems.

Question 4

Evaluation

Answer 4

• Results with the older children may be due to lack of any stimulation in the orphanage,
• As a longitudinal study, Rutter was able to investigate the children over a long period of time, meaning the results provide a better insight into the long-term effects of privation,
• They collected mainly qualitative data which, although detailed, is more difficult to create generalised laws and theories from.