Effects of institutionalisation.
Institutionalisation = effects of living in an institutional setting.
Institution = place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for a continuous amount
of time – little emotional care provided.
Romanian orphan studies
In the 1990s a tragic opportunity to study the effects of institutional care arose in Romania –
due to President Nicolai Ceausescu ordering women to have 5 children. Many parents couldn’t
afford to keep their children and so they ended up in huge orphanages with poor conditions.
After the 1989 revolution many children were adopted – some by British parents.
Rutter’s ERA study, 2011
The English and Romanian Adoptee study followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted
in Britain. Physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4,6,11 and 15
years. The control group was 52 British children adopted at the same time.
FINDINGS - ½ the Romanian adoptees showed delayed intellectual development at the start. At
age 11 they showed varied rates of recovery, depending on their age of adoption.
The mean IQ of children adopted before the age of 6 months was 102 and for those
adopted between 6mo-2yrs it was 86, and for those adopted after 2yrs it was 77.
Those adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment. Symptoms =
attention seeking, clinginess and indiscriminate social behaviour towards strangers and
familiar adults.
But those adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.
Bucharest Early Intervention project
PROCEDURE – Zeanah et al (2005) assessed attachment type in 95 children aged 12-31 months
who had spent around 90% of their lives in institutional care. The control group was 50 children
who had never been in an institution. They used the strange situation and asked carers about
unusual social behaviour linking to disinhibited attachment – clinginess etc.
FINDINGS – 74% of the control group were securely attached, but only 19% of the institutional
group were securely attached with 65% having disorganised attachment. 44% of
institutionalised children had disinhibited attachment, and less than 20% of the controls did.
Effects of institutionalisation
Disinhibited attachment is a typical effect – where children are indifferent towards familiar
people and strangers. This is very weird behaviour – most children by age 2 show stranger
anxiety.
Institutionalisation = effects of living in an institutional setting.
Institution = place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for a continuous amount
of time – little emotional care provided.
Romanian orphan studies
In the 1990s a tragic opportunity to study the effects of institutional care arose in Romania –
due to President Nicolai Ceausescu ordering women to have 5 children. Many parents couldn’t
afford to keep their children and so they ended up in huge orphanages with poor conditions.
After the 1989 revolution many children were adopted – some by British parents.
Rutter’s ERA study, 2011
The English and Romanian Adoptee study followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted
in Britain. Physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at ages 4,6,11 and 15
years. The control group was 52 British children adopted at the same time.
FINDINGS - ½ the Romanian adoptees showed delayed intellectual development at the start. At
age 11 they showed varied rates of recovery, depending on their age of adoption.
The mean IQ of children adopted before the age of 6 months was 102 and for those
adopted between 6mo-2yrs it was 86, and for those adopted after 2yrs it was 77.
Those adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment. Symptoms =
attention seeking, clinginess and indiscriminate social behaviour towards strangers and
familiar adults.
But those adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.
Bucharest Early Intervention project
PROCEDURE – Zeanah et al (2005) assessed attachment type in 95 children aged 12-31 months
who had spent around 90% of their lives in institutional care. The control group was 50 children
who had never been in an institution. They used the strange situation and asked carers about
unusual social behaviour linking to disinhibited attachment – clinginess etc.
FINDINGS – 74% of the control group were securely attached, but only 19% of the institutional
group were securely attached with 65% having disorganised attachment. 44% of
institutionalised children had disinhibited attachment, and less than 20% of the controls did.
Effects of institutionalisation
Disinhibited attachment is a typical effect – where children are indifferent towards familiar
people and strangers. This is very weird behaviour – most children by age 2 show stranger
anxiety.
