Attachment - Psychology

Institutionalisation

Orphanage

Institutionalisation causes privation

Privation

 the failure to form an attachment due to absence of maternal care at all.

Romanian orphanages

• The civil war in Romania led to thousands of orphans who were raised in institutions where conditions were poor.

• Film coverage indicates babies received minimum physical care e.g. bottles propped on cots

• Due to lack of staff and facilities there was minimal time for interaction or play

• Most babies spent all day alone in their cots

Rutter Et Al 2007 - Aim

Aimed to investigate the impact of institutionalisation

Rutter Et Al 2007 - procedure

• On-going longitudinal study

• Comparing Romanian orphans who were adopted by UK families with 52 UK-born adoptees (control group)

• Romanian adoptees had entered the orphanage as small babies between one and two weeks old.

• Conditions in the institutions had been very poor, there was evidence of severe malnourishment.

• 58 of the Romanian orphans were adopted before 6

months of age

• 59 were adopted between 6-24 months, with some adopted after the age of 2.

• Some of the children were followed up at ages four, six and eleven years

• Used a range of measures including interviews, observations of the child's behaviour, and teacher/peer reports.

Summary of conditions - three groups for comparison:

1. UK born adoptees

2. Romanian (58) adoptees, adopted before 6 months

3. Romanian (59) adoptees, adopted after 6 months

Rutter Et Al 2007 findings

• When Romanian orphans first arrived they showed evidence of severe cognitive deficiency

• Age 4: most of the children adopted before 6 months caught up with the UK born adoptees by age 4.

• Those adopted after 6 months had on-going deficits.

• Age 11: Differences in IQ persisted

• Adopted before 6 months mean IQ was 102 (average)

• If after 6 months mean IQ was 86 (below average)

Findings - Attachment

• Age 6

• There was evidence of disinhibited attachment in the Romanian orphans

• 'a pattern of attention seeking behaviours with a relative lack of selectivity in social relationships'

• Children showing this attachment type would be more likely to go off with strangers and make inappropriate contact with strangers

• e.g. sit on knee, hold hand, cuddle them.

Findings - age 6: disinhibited attachment

• Disinhibited attachment most common in the late adopted

• The behaviour pattern was extremely rare in UK adoptees (3.8%) and early adopted children (8.9%)

• This suggests that disinhibited attachments are more likely in children who have experienced longer periods in institutions.

• It is also more likely in those who experienced the privation of Romanian orphanages compared with UK adoptees.

Rutter Conclusion

• Rutter concluded that for some, the effects of living in an institution and not forming attachments within Bowlby's critical period could be long term

• This was a particular issue in late adoptees (after 6 months).

• But the effects of institutionalisation can be reduced with extra effort and with early adoption.

Conclusion

• The effects of institutionalisation cause long lasting effects

• But they may not be permanent particularly if caught early.

• Privation is a vulnerability factor.

• If extra effort is put in then (e.g. by adoptive parents) the effects of privation can be minimised.

Evolutionary theory

any behaviour that increases survival gets passed on to the next generation. This is because the animal/person has survived, therefore they are able to reproduce and pass genes on to offspring.