effects of institutionalization

what is institutionalization

refers to children spending long periods of time living outside of their family home within an institution, resulting in loss of identity and adopting the institution's norms. this can impair cognitive functioning

3 effects of institutionalization

reactive attachment disorder
disinhibited attachment
cognitive impairment

reactive attachment disorder

lack of sensitive responsiveness from a parent can cause a child to grow up unable to trust or love others, so they become isolated, selfish, and even sociopathic

disinhibited attachment

condition where children select attachment figures indiscriminately and behave in an overly familiar fashion with complete strangers

usually caused by long periods in institutions where children become adjusted to having multiple caregivers whom are not seen enough to form secure attachments

cognitive impairment

delay in cognitive development causes low IQ, concentration problems and difficulty leaning new concepts

rutter aim

to investigate whether loving and nurturing care could overturn the effects of institutionalization children suffered from in romanian orphanages

rutter procedure

longitudinal study that began in 1998, where they assessed physical, emotional and cognitive development at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15

rutter sample

111 romanian orphans adopted by british families

rutter conditions

3 groups
1) adopted before 6mo
2) adopted between 6mo - 2 years
3) adopted after 2 years

compared to control group of 52 british adopted children

rutter findings

initial assessment: 50% of romanian kid showed signs of cognitive impairment and were severely undernourished

age 4: kids were making very good recovery, but those adopted after 2 were ore likely to show disinhibited attachment, whereas those adopted before 6mo were doing just as well as the british kids

age 11: those adopted after 2yrs had lower mean IQ than those adopted earlier, showing cognitive impairment, those adopted early had normal IQ

rutter conclusion

some effects of institutionalization can be overcome, but more so if the adoption takes place earlier

strength 1

practical applications
led to improvement in orphanages
less caregivers to avoid disinhibited attachment, instead only 2 key workers
also, institutionalization has become less desirable
considerable efforts put into fostering
reduce effects of institutionalization

strength 2

higher control over extraneous variables than other research in this field
most previous research used children that suffered from trauma/abuse/bereavement
most of the children rutter used came from loving but poor households
allowed rutter to study institutionalization without confounding variable
increases internal validity

weakness 1

may have been different confounding variables
quality in these institutions was extremely poor, with little stimulation or comfort
results at just be down to poor conditions, not institutional care itself
limits findings