Institutionalisation

1. Institutionalisation • Children in institutional care are likely to experience privation • It has been found that young children admitted to institutional care respond with distress

2. The Effects of Institutionalisation Rutter et al (2007) AIMS: Due to wars in Eastern Europe, many children have been left homeless. Therefore, it has enabled the opportunity to study the effects of institutionalisation PROCEDURES: Rutter, studied 100 Romanian orphans and assessed at ages 4, 6 and 11 years old

3. The Effects of Institutionalisation Rutter et al (2007) FINDINGS: Children who were adopted by British families before the age of 6 months have shown ‘normal’ emotional development when compared with UK children adopted at the same age. However, many of those Romanian orphans adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachments. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that long-term consequences may be less severe if children have the opportunity to form attachments. However, when children remain in privation (failure to form attachments) then the consequences are likely to be severe.

4. Evaluation Strengths: • Longitudinal study – Children were assessed at different ages and therefore it is useful to gain an insight into the long-term effects of institutionalisation Weaknesses: • It could be other factors which may have affected these children’s behaviours • This is because 1/3 of the Romanian orphans recovered well. • Therefore it seems that privation alone cannot explain the negative outcomes

5. Hodges & Tizard (1989) Go to this website and make notes on the aims, procedures, findings, conclusions and evaluation. http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/privation.html