Romanian Orphan Studies: Institutionalization

Institutionalization

• Institutionalization refers to the effects of living in an institutional setting. An 'institution' refers to a place like an orphanage or hospital where children live for long, continuous periods of time. In such places, there is often very little emotional care provided. In attachment research, we are interested in the effect of institutionalization on children's attachment and subsequent development.

Orphan Studies

• Orphan studies concern children placed in care because their parents cannot look after them. An orphan is a child whose parents have either died or have abandoned them permanently.

Rutter et al. (2011) - English and Romanian Adoptee Study (ERA) - Procedure

• The researchers followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans who experienced very poor conditions before being adopted in the UK.

• The longitudinal study tested the extent to which good care can make up for poor early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive, and emotional development was assessed at various ages.

• The study also followed a control group of 52 adopted children from the UK.

Rutter et al. (2011) - English and Romanian Adoptee Study (ERA) - Findings and conclusions

• Half of the orphans showed delayed intellectual development upon arrival in the UK. Recovery rates were related to their age at adoption.

• Those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102, while those adopted after 2 years had an average IQ of 77.

• Frequency of disinhibited attachment was related to the age at adoption.

• These findings support Bowlby's view that there is a sensitive period in the development of attachments.

Zeanah et al. (2005) - Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEI) - Procedure

Procedure:

• The researchers used the Strange Situation to assess attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care.

• They compared them to a control group of 50 children who had never experienced institutional care.

Zeanah et al. (2005) - Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEI) - Findings and Conclusions

• Only 19% of the institutionalization group were securely attached, compared to 74% of controls.

• 44% of the institutionalization group had characteristics of disinhibited attachment, compared to 20% of the controls.

Effects of institutionalization

• Disinhibited attachment: Children may be equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or total strangers, possibly as an adaptation to multiple caregivers.

• Damage to intellectual development: Institutionalized children often show signs of intellectual disability, which is less pronounced if they are adopted before 6 months of age.

Strengths and Limitations of the studies

• Strengths include improvements in institutional care due to research findings and clearer isolation of the effects of institutionalization.

• Limitations include potential confounding variables and the lack of data on long-term adult development.