Romanian orphan studies

What is institutionalisation?

Institutionalisation is living away from a family environment, such as in a children’s home or hospital.

What are the effects of extended stays in institutions?

• Deindividuation (loss of personal identity)

• Affectionless psychopathy

• Delinquency

• Low IQ

What happened in the case of Romanian orphans (1989)?

• Fall of communist government revealed ~300,000 orphans

• Contraception banned → families gave up excess children

• Orphans lacked physical and emotional care

• Many were malnourished and abused

What is the difference between deprivation and privation?

• Deprivation: Loss/lack of emotional care from a primary attachment figure

• Privation: Total lack of any attachment bond (as seen in Romanian orphans)

What was the aim of Rutter (2011)?

To investigate the effects of privation on Romanian orphans adopted into British families.

What was the procedure of Rutter (2011)?

• Studied 165 Romanian orphans + 52 British adoptees (control group)

• Divided into 4 groups:

  • Group 1: <6 months

  • Group 2: 6–24 months

  • Group 3: >24 months

  • Group 4: British adoptees

• Assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, and 15

What were the early findings of Rutter (2011)?

• Many Romanian children were malnourished

• Had low IQ compared to peers at start of study

What is disinhibited attachment found in Rutter’s study?

• Children overly friendly with strangers

• Lack of selective attachment behaviour

What did Rutter (2011) find about attachment after 6 months?

• Children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment

• At age 11, 54% still showed this behaviour

What were the findings on intellectual development?

• Children adopted after 6 months had lower IQ

• Difficulty concentrating

• Those adopted after 24 months had average IQ of 77

What are quasi-autism tendencies in Rutter’s study?

• Problems understanding social contexts

• Observed only in Romanian orphans

What did Rutter find at the 15-year follow-up?

• Intellectual problems persisted

• Some long-term effects of privation remained

What was Rutter’s conclusion?

• Adoption before 6 months helps prevent long-term damage

• Some recovery is possible → suggests a sensitive period, not a strict critical period