Institutionalisation: the effects of living in an institutional setting, such as a hospital, prison or an orphanage where
people live for long continuous periods of time. (Problems to having to live a civilian life.)
Psychologists are interested in looking at the effects of institutional care on childrens attachment and the development
that therefore follows.
Deprivation: where an attachment was once formed but it is now broken.
Privation: where a child has never had the chance to form an attachment with its mother of caregiver.
Michael Rutter claims that it is privation that needs to the most detrimental consequences.
Rutter’s ERA ( English Romanian Adoption) Study:
LONGITUDINAL STUDY
Aim:
To nd out how damaging institutionalisation is to childrens’ cognitive, physical and emotional development and the
extent to which children could recover when extreme deprivation in earlier life is followed within later childhood by a
safe family environment.
Procedure:
Studied 165 Romanian infants that were adopted before 2 years and after in the UK and were studied between ages
4-15.
Control group- 52 UK adopted children were used.
Findings:
Due to the fact that children had multiple carers, it was impossible for them to have formed an attachment or secure
relationship with a caregiver. Therefore they had a disinhibited attachment type, showing such behaviours such as:
Clinginess
Overly friendly
Attention seeking
Indiscriminant and equal affection towards familiar and unfamiliar adults
Children who were adopted after the age of 2, had an average IQ of 77, whereas those adopted before 6 months, had an
average IQ of 102 and did not show disinhibited attachment.
Romanian children who were adopted before 6 months, had caught up intellectually by the age of 4 with the control
group, whereas those after had signs of mental retardation.
Conclusions:
The longer the children were institutionalised for, the more damaging the effect would be therefore the impacts of
institutionalisation can be minimised the earlier the adoption occurs.
people live for long continuous periods of time. (Problems to having to live a civilian life.)
Psychologists are interested in looking at the effects of institutional care on childrens attachment and the development
that therefore follows.
Deprivation: where an attachment was once formed but it is now broken.
Privation: where a child has never had the chance to form an attachment with its mother of caregiver.
Michael Rutter claims that it is privation that needs to the most detrimental consequences.
Rutter’s ERA ( English Romanian Adoption) Study:
LONGITUDINAL STUDY
Aim:
To nd out how damaging institutionalisation is to childrens’ cognitive, physical and emotional development and the
extent to which children could recover when extreme deprivation in earlier life is followed within later childhood by a
safe family environment.
Procedure:
Studied 165 Romanian infants that were adopted before 2 years and after in the UK and were studied between ages
4-15.
Control group- 52 UK adopted children were used.
Findings:
Due to the fact that children had multiple carers, it was impossible for them to have formed an attachment or secure
relationship with a caregiver. Therefore they had a disinhibited attachment type, showing such behaviours such as:
Clinginess
Overly friendly
Attention seeking
Indiscriminant and equal affection towards familiar and unfamiliar adults
Children who were adopted after the age of 2, had an average IQ of 77, whereas those adopted before 6 months, had an
average IQ of 102 and did not show disinhibited attachment.
Romanian children who were adopted before 6 months, had caught up intellectually by the age of 4 with the control
group, whereas those after had signs of mental retardation.
Conclusions:
The longer the children were institutionalised for, the more damaging the effect would be therefore the impacts of
institutionalisation can be minimised the earlier the adoption occurs.
