THE EFFECTS OF INSTITUTIONALISATION
ROMANIAN ORPHAN STUDIES
Attachment – Lesson 10
Recap task
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Outline Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
Describe one study to support this
Provide two evaluation points of his theory
Effects of Institutionalisation
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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
mill
ion
1960-
1992
2010
Population of Romania
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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
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCeWr8OFuEs
Rutter (1998) – Romanian Orphans
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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
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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
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Use this worksheet to summarise the findings
Rutter (1998) – Romanian Orphans
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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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 (1231 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 behavioursclingyness, 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
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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)
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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
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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…
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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
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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 anxietyprovoking 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
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Revise Attachment for a tracking test