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Effects of Institutionalisation
MUST – Define the term institutionalisation SHOULD – Outline Rutter’s study COULD – Evaluate Rutter’s study
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It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.
Alfred Lord Tennyson Do you agree? Which do you think is worse for children?
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Psychological consequences of neglect
Relationships with others, ability to form attachments, ability to learn, language acquisition Psychological consequences of neglect
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Institutionalisation
The effects of living in an institutional setting. Institution refers to the place like a hospital or orphanage where children live for a long, continuous period of time. There is often little emotional care provided Institutionalisation
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Watch the following video clip and write down anything you notice about the orphanage How do you think growing up in this orphanage may effect the children? Not enough staff No toys Rocking motion Deformed from lying down constantly Fed themselves Tied to bed Orphanages
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What are the differences?
Institutional care No attachment figure Bored Less sociable More aggressive Less intelligent Not cared for well Less toys Less interaction Family care Strong emotional attachment More sociable Cared for well What are the differences?
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History Romania’s orphan problem began under the communist rule of Nicolae Ceausescu who banned abortion and denied access to contraception at a time of severe food and energy shortages. Many Romanians abandoned their newborn children, leaving thousands to suffer at under-funded, state-run orphanages.
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AQA PSYCH ATTACHMENT DTK
The 1990’s studies... November 18
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Orphanages lacked both medicines and washing facilities
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Children were subject to sexual and physical abuse
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Bedrooms were infested with fleas and rats
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Rain would often come through the roof
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At 18 most orphans would be kicked out onto the street to fend for themselves
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The home had a high turnover of staff, and there was a policy against letting children form attachments with the carers Longitudinal study 65 children placed in residential nursery before 4 months old. Hadn't had opportunity to form close attachments with caregivers. Age of 4 some children had returned home to mum. Some adopted, some stayed in nursery. Results: 16 years old adopted group had strong family relationships. Those who stayed in nursery or returned to mothers showed poorer relationships with family and peers than those adopted. Conclusion: children can recover from early maternal privation if they receive good quality care. However social development may not be as good as those who have never suffered privation. Evaluation: Natural experiment – high EV However, small sample. More than 20 couldn’t be found at the end of the study (participant attrition!)– hard to generalise the results Key study of children raised in institutions – Hodges and Tizard (1989)
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Conclusion Hodges and Tizard believed that their findings demonstrate that children who are deprived of close and lasting attachments to adults in their first years of life can make such attachments later, although this does depend on the adults concerned and how much they nurture such attachments. Hodges and Tizard offer an explanation for why the adopted children were more likely to overcome some of the problems of early institutional upbringing better than the restored children. The financial situation of the adoptive families was often better, they had on average fewer children to provide for, and the adoptive parents were particularly highly motivated to have a child and to develop a relationship with that child. The biological parents in Hodges and Tizard's sample seemed to have been 'more ambivalent about their child living with them'.
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The restored group had worse relationships with siblings than adoptees
The restored group had worse relationships with siblings than adoptees. All three groups raised in institution had difficulties with peer relationships and were less likely to belong to a crowd. Rated by teachers as likely to seek attention.
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Disinhibited attachment: Key term
A type of disorganised attachment where children do not discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures These children may treat near strangers with inappropriate familiarity (over friendliness) and may be attention seeking Disinhibited attachment: Key term
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Rutter’s ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) study
Sample: 165 Romanian children (previously lived in institutions) of these 111 adopted before the age of 2 and 54 adopted by the age of 4. They were compared to 52 British children adopted by the age of 6 months. (control group) The children were tested regularly for physical, social and cognitive development at the ages of 4,6,11,15. Rutter’s ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) study
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Rutter’s ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) study
Findings: at the time of adoption, the Romanian children were behind the British children in all three aspects. Cognitively they were classified as mentally retarded. By 4, most of the Romanian children who had been adopted by the age of 6 months had caught up with the British children. Many of the children adopted after the age of 6 months showed disinhibited attachment* and had difficulties with peer relationships. Rutter’s ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) study
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Rutter’s ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) study
Conclusions: The effects of early privation do not seem to be completely irreversible (as suggested by Bowlby), but children exposed to institutional privation are more likely to make a fuller recovery if adopted into a caring environment at an earlier age. As a result of this research, Rutter suggested that Bowlby’s ‘critical period’ could be better described as a ‘sensitive period’; meaning that, although there is an optimal period for forming attachments, it is not impossible to form them after the age of 2 and a half if the child is adopted into a warm and loving environment. Rutter’s ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) study
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The Bucharest Early Intervention project
Zeanah et al. (2005) assessed the attachment in 95 children aged between months who had spent an average of 90% of their life in an institution and compared them to a control group who spent their life in a “normal family”. The attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation. Findings: 74% of the control group was found to be securely attached but only 19% of the institutionalised group. 65% of this group were classified as disorganised attachment. Disorganised attachment: insecure attachment, the children display an inconsistent pattern of behaviour; sometimes they show strong attachment other times they avoid the caregiver. The Bucharest Early Intervention project
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They carried out a longitudinal study on the physical growth and health of 36 Romanian orphans adopted by Canadian families and compared them to a group of children raised in normal Canadian families. Data was collected for each child at three time points: at 11 months after adoption, at 4.5 years of age and at 10.5 years of age. Findings: The first two sets of results showed that the adoptees were behind the non-institutionalised group however by 10.5 years old there was no difference LeMare and Audet (2006)
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Effects of institutionalisation Intellectual under functioning - Goldfarb (1943)
Studied two groups of kids from 6 months to 3 and half years. Group one were raised in institutions, Group two in foster homes. By age 3 group 1 lagged behind on a range of measures such as rule following and sociability. Between ages 10 and 14 group 1 continued to perform more poorly and their IQ scores were lower than group 2’s.
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Effects of institutionalisation Quinton et al (1985) – poor parenting
Compared a group of 50 women who had been reared in institutions (children’s homes) with a control group of 50 women reared at home When the women were in their 20s the ex-institutional women were experiencing extreme difficulties acting as parents Effects of institutionalisation Quinton et al (1985) – poor parenting
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Effects of institutionalisation Deprivation dwarfism
Children from institutions are usually physically small from lack of emotional care Gardner (1972) studied 8 month old girl who was never cuddled. She was physically stunted and withdrawn. With attention from hospital staff, she soon returned to normal Emotional disturbances may affect the production of growth hormones Effects of institutionalisation Deprivation dwarfism
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5 groups: research your evaluation point make sure each person in the group knows the information as you will be feeding back to each other. Do not copy word to word, read, discuss and then condense. Evaluation
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Outline and evaluate research into the effects of institutionalisation
12 mark question
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