The effects of institutionalisation Romanian orphan studies Attachment – Lesson 10

Recap task Outline Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis Describe one study to support this Provide two evaluation points of his theory

Effects of Institutionalisation Institutionalisation refers to when children are looked after somewhere other than a home What might Bowlby predict the outcome of institutionalisation is? In Romania many children were placed in orphanages, although they were not always orphans. The grim conditions in the orphanages became known worldwide from 1989 and became a tragic opportunity to look at the effects of institutionalisation.

Population of Romania 1960-2010 23 mill 22 mill 20 million 19 mill 18 million 1960- 1992 2010

Population of Romania The population of Romania increased from around 18 million in 1960 to nearly 23 million in 1992 (1 mark) This increase is because the dictator Ceaușescu, in an attempt to boost the country's population, made abortion illegal, to reverse the very low birth rate and fertility rate. Mothers of at least five children would be entitled to significant benefits, while mothers of at least ten children were declared heroine mothers by the Romanian state. This combined with a failing economy meant that families often couldn’t feed their large families and as they couldn’t have abortions abandoned their new babies rather than have the rest of the family starve. Many children in Romanian orphanages were not actually orphans.

Romanian Orphanages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCeWr8OFuEs

Rutter (1998) – Romanian Orphans Some of the Romanian orphans were adopted by British families. A team of psychologists (called the English and Romanian Adoptees Study Team) led by Michael Rutter have studied these children and the effects of their early experience. The studies are known as the ERA studies and they are a series of natural experiments that have been published at various times; the children have been studied soon after arrival, at 4, 6, 11 and 15 and there are plans to study them into adulthood, so they are also longitudinal studies as they take place over time. Remember that a natural experiment is one in which the IV (exposure to conditions in the Romanian orphanages or lack of exposure for the control group) is not manipulated by the experimenter because it exists prior to the study; the experimenters simply measure the effect of the IV.

Rutter (1998) – Romanian Orphans Procedures - 111 Romanian children were assessed on a variety of measures of physical and intellectual ability on arrival in Britain. Most of them had been in institutional care from shortly after they were born but they were naturally split into 3 conditions 1-adopted before 6 months 2-adopted between 6 months and 2 years and 3-adopted after 2 years. The orphans were assessed for height, head circumference and cognitive functioning on arrival in the U.K and assessed again at 4. A control group of 52 British adopted children were also assessed to ascertain whether negative effects were due to separation from carers or the institutional conditions of the Romanian orphanages.

Rutter (1998) – Romanian Orphans Use this worksheet to summarise the findings

Rutter (1998) – Romanian Orphans The children’s IQ was tested upon arrival in the UK and the average score for the Romanian orphans was 63. For those adopted when over 6 months old, the average was 45. Physical development was also poor, 51% of them being in the bottom 3% of the population for weight. They were also shorter in height than was normal for their age and had smaller head circumferences. The Romanian orphans were tested again at the age of 4 and compared to a control group of 52 British-adopted children, all aged 4, who had showed none of the negative effects suffered by the Romanians. At the age of 4 orphans adopted before 6 months showed no significant differences in either intellectual or physical development with the control group. All the children had improved though with the average IQ of the Romanians increasing from 63 to 107. However for those adopted after 6 months, it had gone from 45 to 90. The older adoptees tended to do less well in terms of physical development too.

Rutter (2007) – Romanian Orphans In follow up studies when the children were 6 and 11, Rutter (2007) found that many had normal levels of functioning. However 54% of children who displayed disinhibited attachment at 6 years old still displayed disinhibited attachment it at 11 and many of them were receiving help from either special educational and or mental health services. Disinhibited attachment is characterised by a lack of close, confiding relationships, rather indiscriminate friendliness and clingy, attention-seeking behaviour, a relative lack of differentiation in response to adults (treating them all alike, a tendency to go off with strangers and a lack of checking back with a parent in anxiety-provoking situations.

Le mare and Audet (2006) Carried out a longitudinal study on 36 Romanian orphans adopted into Canada. They were looking specifically at physical growth and health Found that adopted orphans were physically smaller than control group at 4 ½ years old but that this difference had disappeared by 10 ½ The same was true for physical health so shows that recovery is possible from the physical effects of institutionalisation.

Evaluation Activity You will be given a point to explain to the rest of the group as an evaluation Use the wall whiteboards to help you do this

Further Evaluation Write the following evaluation point on page 24 of the packs. It’s a little bit of extra evaluation for you! One of the methodological issues for Rutter’s ERA project is that the children were not randomly assigned to conditions. The researchers did not interfere with the adoption process, which means that those children adopted early may have been more sociable ones, a confounding variable. To control for such variables another major investigation of fostering versus institutional care did use random allocation. In the Bucharest early intervention project (see below) Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to institutional care or fostering This is methodologically better because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents but it raises ethical issues. The Bucharest early intervention project- Zeenah (2005) assessed 95 children (12- 31 months) who had spent most of their lives in institutions and compared to a control group of 50 who had never been in an institution. Using the strange situation their attachment type was measured and carers asked about unusual behaviours- clingyness, attention seeking e.g. They found that 74% of the control group were securely attached and only 20% came out as disinhibited however only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached with 65% having disorganised attachment and 40% disinhibited

Exam Question Outline the effects of institutionalisation (6 marks) Think about how you would plan this question and what level of detail you would expect to find in the answer. Also think about what NOT to include…

Exam Question Outline the effects of institutionalisation (6 marks) IQ-Started off well below average at _____ but by 4 was above average at ____ apart from those adopted after ____ months who was still only 90. These cognitive problems were still evident at 6 in some children but most were ______. Physical dev- To start in two studies all children were physically ________, _________ in bottom %, shorter but by 10 ½ these differences had _______________ in Le mare’s study and those adopted before 6 months displaying no effects at 4 in _______’s study. __________ behaviour- Zeenah shows that institutionalised children are more likely to be ___________ attached and have _____________ attachments and Rutter shows that most children by 11 are functioning normally (20% by 6) but some of the children adopted after 6 months still showed disinhibited attachments at 11 and needed _______ __________ from special educational needs or mental health services.

Exam Question IQ-Started off well below average at 63 but by 4 was above average at 107 apart form those adopted after 6 months who was still only 90. These cognitive problems were still evident at 6 in some children but most were fine. Physical dev- To start in two studies all children were physically smaller, weighed in bottom %, shorter but by 10 ½ these differences had disappeared in Le mare and those adopted before 6 months displaying no effects at 4 in Rutter’s. Attachment behaviour- Zeenah shows that institutionalised children are more likely to be insecurely attached and have disinhibited attachments and Rutter shows that most children by 11 are functioning normally (20% by 6) but some of the children adopted after 6 months still showed disinhibited attachments at 11 and needed extra support from special educational needs or mental health services.

Put a study to the stat… Average iQ score 63 54% who showed disinhibited attachment at 6 still showed it at this age but most had normal levels of functioning In those adopted over 6 months average IQ was 90 at this age. Shorter than normal for age Smaller head circumferences Those adopted over 6 months average IQ of 45 Receiving special educational help or help from mental health services Physically smaller and poorer health compared to control group 51% in bottom 3% of population for weight No significant differences in intellectual or physical development when compared with control group if adopted before 6 months Average IQ 107 At this age all the physical and health differences had disappeared Most at this age had normal levels of functioning but some showed disinhibited attachments

Summary of the effects of institutionalization Some of the negative outcomes shown by the Romanian children could be overcome through adequate substitute care. Remember at aged 11 just under half of the children in Rutter’s study had normal levels of functioning. But intervention should take place before 6 months of age as those adopted after tended to have lower IQ’s and be less physically developed. Many children, especially those who had been adopted later, displayed disinhibited attachment - characterised by a lack of close, confiding relationships, rather indiscriminate friendliness and clingy, attention-seeking behaviour, a relative lack of differentiation in response to adults (treating them all alike, a tendency to go off with strangers and a lack of checking back with a parent in anxiety- provoking situations. Some research shows that the negative physical effects of institutionalization can be reversed by 10 1/2. Separation from mother alone is not sufficient to cause negative outcomes as British children had been separated but were not developmentally delayed The effects of Romanian orphans are still not fully clear as they still need to be followed into adulthood to see if the negative effects can still be overcome with more time.

Homework Revise Attachment for a tracking test