2a. Effects of institutionalisation and the ERA project

What is institutionalisation?

Institutionalisation= a term describing the effects of a long term institutional care, such as orphanage; incl social, metal and physical underdevelopment. Some effects may be irreversible

What are the 5 effects of institutionalisation?

5 effects of institutionalisation=

• physical effects/ underdevelopment

• intellectual effects/ underdevelopment

• emotional effects/ underdevelopment

• disinhibited attachment

• damage to IWM (future relationships)

What are the examples of the physical effects/ underdevelopment in institutionalisation?

examples of the physical effects/ underdevelopment in institutionalisation=

Gardner showed children do not grow properly due to a lack of emotional care

What are the examples of the intellectual effects/underdevelopment in institutionalisation?

examples of the intellectual effects/underdevelopment in institutionalisation=

• In Rutter et al’s study, they found that despite most of the children having intellectual disability disorder, those that were adopeted before 6 months caught up by the age of 4

What are the examples of the emotional effects/underdevelopment in institutionalisation?

examples of the emotional effects/underdevelopment in institutionalisation=

• potentially showing disorganized attachment

What is disinhibted attachment?

Disinhibited attachment=

having too many carers can result in children→

being inappropiately friendly with complete strangers, lacking stranger anxiety and presenting behaviours that go against the norms

What did Rutter criticise Bowlby on?

Rutter criticised Bowlby for not differentiating between deprivation and privation. He suggested that Bowlby may have been reductionist in his concept of maternal deprivation.

What was the procedure for Rutter et als study?

Procedure for Rutter et als study=

followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee (ERA) study. The orphans had been adopted by families in the UK. 111 had been adopted before the age of 2 and 54 by the age of 4. The children were tested to assess their physical , cognitive and social development at 4,6,11 and 15 and compared to a control group of 52 British adoptees, all adopted before 6. Information was also gathered from their adoptive parents and teachers via semi-structured interviews.

What were the findings for Rutter et als study?

Findings for Rutter et als study=

When adopted, all the remaining children lagged behind the British children across all 3 criteria. There was a negative correlation between adoption age and recovery, with those adopted younger making more improvements. Those adopted before 6 months made full recoveries by 4.

Those children adopted after they were six months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment.

Symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar. This shows that the long term consequences of poor attachment in the critical period might be less inevitable than Bowlby suggested.

What was the procedure of Zeanah et als study?

Procedure of Zeanah et als study=

• Used the Strange Situation method to assess the attachment type of 136 Romanian orphans aged between 12 and 31 months who had spent an average of 90% of their lives in institutional care. Their results were compared ot 72 Romanian children who had never lived in care. Information regarding unusual social behaviour, including clingy; attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropiately at all adults, was gathered from adoptive parents via semi-structured interview. (measure of disinhibited attachment)

What were the findings of Zeanah et als study?

Findings of Zeanah et als study=

Secure attachment=

• control group in Strange Situation= 74%

• institutional group= 19%

Disinhibited attachment=

• control group(s)= 20%

• institutional group= 44%

(65% of the children were classified as disorganised attachment)

The unusal levels of disorganised attachment and disinhibited attachment suggest a correlation between institutional care and attachment problems.

Since this occurred in children who were in care up to 31 months→ in line with Bowlby’s idea of a critical period (30 months)