Attachment
Effects of Institutionalisation
Disinhibited attachment – the child is equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know
well or who are strangers. This may be an adaption to multiple caregivers.
Damage to intellectual development – institutionalised children often show signs of mental
retardation. This effect is not as pronounced if the children are adopted before 6 months of age.
Rutter - Romanian Orphan Study
PROCEDURE – the researchers have followed a group 165 Romanian orphans who experienced very
poor conditions before being adopted in Britain. This longitudinal study has tested the extent to
which good care can make up for poor early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and
emotional development has been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15. The study also followed a control
group of 52 adopted British children.
FINDINGS – half of the orphans showed mental retardation when they came to the UK. At age 11
recovery rates were related to their age of adoption:
Those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102.
Those adopted between 6 months and 2 years had a mean IQ of 86.
Those adopted after 2 years had a mean IQ of 77.
Frequency of disinhibited attachment related to the age of the adoption.
Apparent in children adopted after they were 6 months old: clinginess, attention-seeking
and indiscriminate affection to strangers.
Rare in children adopted before the age of 6 months.
These findings support the view that there is a sensitive period in the development of attachments –
a failure to form an attachment before the age of 6 months appears to have long-lasting effects.
Evaluation
Important practical applications. Results from this research have led to improvements in the
way children are cared for in institutions. Children’s homes now avoid having large numbers
of caregivers for each child. They have one or two ‘key workers’ who play a central role. This
gives the child a chance to develop normal attachments and avoid disinhibited attachments,
immensely valuable in practical terms.
There may be issues with generalisability in Romanian studies. The conditions of the
orphanages are so bad that the results may not apply to institutional care or general
situations deprivation. Romanian orphanages had particularly poor standards of care,
especially when it came to forming any relationship with the children. The unusual
situational variables mean the studies may lack generalisability.
Children were not randomly assigned to conditions. Rutter et al. did not interfere with the
adoption process, so those children adopted early may have been more sociable which is a
confounding variable. To control for such variables, the Bucharest Early Intervention study
did randomly assign the orphans to institutional care or fostering. This is methodologically
better because it removes the confounding variable of some children being picked by
parents, but it raises ethical issues.
Effects of Institutionalisation
Disinhibited attachment – the child is equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know
well or who are strangers. This may be an adaption to multiple caregivers.
Damage to intellectual development – institutionalised children often show signs of mental
retardation. This effect is not as pronounced if the children are adopted before 6 months of age.
Rutter - Romanian Orphan Study
PROCEDURE – the researchers have followed a group 165 Romanian orphans who experienced very
poor conditions before being adopted in Britain. This longitudinal study has tested the extent to
which good care can make up for poor early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and
emotional development has been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15. The study also followed a control
group of 52 adopted British children.
FINDINGS – half of the orphans showed mental retardation when they came to the UK. At age 11
recovery rates were related to their age of adoption:
Those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102.
Those adopted between 6 months and 2 years had a mean IQ of 86.
Those adopted after 2 years had a mean IQ of 77.
Frequency of disinhibited attachment related to the age of the adoption.
Apparent in children adopted after they were 6 months old: clinginess, attention-seeking
and indiscriminate affection to strangers.
Rare in children adopted before the age of 6 months.
These findings support the view that there is a sensitive period in the development of attachments –
a failure to form an attachment before the age of 6 months appears to have long-lasting effects.
Evaluation
Important practical applications. Results from this research have led to improvements in the
way children are cared for in institutions. Children’s homes now avoid having large numbers
of caregivers for each child. They have one or two ‘key workers’ who play a central role. This
gives the child a chance to develop normal attachments and avoid disinhibited attachments,
immensely valuable in practical terms.
There may be issues with generalisability in Romanian studies. The conditions of the
orphanages are so bad that the results may not apply to institutional care or general
situations deprivation. Romanian orphanages had particularly poor standards of care,
especially when it came to forming any relationship with the children. The unusual
situational variables mean the studies may lack generalisability.
Children were not randomly assigned to conditions. Rutter et al. did not interfere with the
adoption process, so those children adopted early may have been more sociable which is a
confounding variable. To control for such variables, the Bucharest Early Intervention study
did randomly assign the orphans to institutional care or fostering. This is methodologically
better because it removes the confounding variable of some children being picked by
parents, but it raises ethical issues.
