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Institutionalisation - Coggle Diagram
Institutionalisation
In 1978 Tizard and Hodges studied children placed into institutional care in the first 4 months of their life
These children were privated as they had not formed attachments with their mothers
High staff turnover and the institutes policy of not letting carers form relationships with children prevented alternative attachments forming
Some children remained in the institution , some were adopted and some were restored to their natural homes
The children were assessed at age 4 , 8 and 16
Children who remained in the institutions had no strong attachments and had problems relating to peers
Adopted children formed strong attachments with their adoptive families but had problems with relationships outside their families
The restored children tended to have poor family and peer relationships and behavioural problems
This suggests that institutional care has long lasting effects though the development of close attachments is possible with loving care , as provided by adoptive parents
In 1944 Bowlby compared 44 juvenile thieves with a control group of non thieves who had suffered emotional problems .
32% of the thieves showed affectionless psychopathy , lacking a social conscience .
None of the control group were classified as affectionless psychopaths
86% of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced maternal separation compared to 17% of the thieves who were not affectionless psychopaths
Supports the idea that maternal deprivation can have long lasting negative effects
In 1946 Spitz studied children raised in poor quality south american orphanages .
Members of staff were overworked and untrained and they rarely communicated with the children
Children received no affection and had no toys
Children displayed anaclitic depression , a reaction to the loss of a love object , showing fear , sadness , weepiness , withdrawal , loss of appetite , weight loss , inability to sleep and developmental retardation
Evaluation
The early studies of children raised in institutions that bowlby based his MDH on had serious methodological flaws . For example the Goldfarb study did not use random samples so its is possible that the fostered children were naturally brighter , more sociable and healthier than the socially isolated children and that is why they were fostered instead of being placed in institutional care . Also the institutions provided unstimulating environments and it may have been the lack of stimulation rather than the absence of maternal care that led to retarded development
In Tizards and Hodges study the more socially skilled children may have been adopted and so found it easier to form attachments with their adoptive families . The study also suffered from atypical sample attrition , where over time a certain type of participant drops out and affects the reliability of results
Real life application for children in care
In 1943 Goldfarb compared 15 children raised in social isolation in institutions from 6 months of age to 3.5 years of age with 15 children who went straight from their natural mothers to foster homes
At age 3 the socially isolated children lagged behind the fostered children on measures of abstract thinking , social maturity , rule following and sociability
Between the ages of 10 and 14 they continued to perform poorly , with an average IQ of 72 compared to the fostered childrens IQ of 95
Concerns the effects upon attachments of care provided by orphanages and residential childrens homes and Bowlbys MDH was largely based upon studies conducted in the 1930s and 1940s of children raised in such institutions
Institutional care involves distinctive patterns of attachment behaviour and so can be regarded as a phenomenon in its own right ; it often involves a mix of privation and deprivation effects
Institutionalised children often show a disticntive attachment behaviour called disinhibited attachment , this is characterised by clingy , attention seeking behaviour and indiscriminate sociability to adults
In 2006 Rutter found that the multiple carers provided by childrens residential homes led to the formation of disinhibited attachments , supporting the idea of institutional care creating distinct attachment
