The Effect of Early Institutional Rearing on the Behaviour Problems and Affectional Relationships of Four‐year‐old Children

Abstract

IT IS known to every student of child development that serious personality defects are said to follow early institutional rearing. The evidence on which this assertion is based is now very out-dated and in need of review. Most English residential nurseries for young children have enormously improved in response to criticisms and bear little resemblance to the grim institutions described by earlier writers. In the nurseries studied by the authors and colleagues the children lived in small mixed age groups, the staff-child ratio was high, the provision of books and toys generous and considerable efforts were made to broaden the children's experience. By the age of three the cognitive development of these children was at least average (Tizard et al., 1972). However, those aspects of the institutional environment which Bowlby (1951) considered most inimical to mental health remained unchanged; large numbers of different staff cared for the children and close personal relationships were discouraged. There is thus a need to assess (a) whether, despite the other improvements, serious personality disturbance results from this atypical rearing; (b) whether institutional rearing in the earliest years leaves persisting effects on the development of children who subsequently leave the institutions.Suitable children to study are not easy to find, because of the current reluctance to place infants in residential nurseries and the tendency to discharge them as soon as possible, even if only for short periods. Hence the great majority of children in institutions are admitted after the first year oflife, and/or have had several admissions or re-admissions. The undoubtedly high rate of psychiatric disturbance in older institutional children (Yule and Raynes, 1972;Wolkind, 1971) can therefore rarely be attributed to early institutional rearing patterns.This study concerns a group of 26 children aged 4| yr who had been continuously reared since early infancy in institutions which were in many respects of high quality. Their behaviour difficulties and affectional bonds with adults were contrasted with those of a group of London working-class children living at home. In order to assess how far the effects of early institutional care are reversible comparisons were also with 39 children either adopted or restored to their natural mothers after spending their first 2-4 yr in a residential nursery. The cognitive assessment of the children is reported elsewhere (Tizard and Rees, 1974). The mean Full-scale WIPPSI I.Q. (Wechsler, 1967) of all groups was at least 100.

Attachment disorders in family and social context

“…Drawing upon these studies, Tizard and Rees (1975) reported that at age 4 years, a majority of young children (18/26) who had been raised in residential nurseries in the United Kingdom since birth exhibited aberrant attachment behavior. A group of 8 children were described as emotionally withdrawn and unresponsive, and another group of 10 children were indiscriminate, attention seeking, and socially superficial.…”

Attachment security and indiscriminately friendly behavior in children adopted from Romanian orphanages

“…Although Tizard and her colleagues (Hodges & Tizard, 1989;Tizard & Hodges, 1978;Tizard & Rees, 1975) found that institutionalized children were able to form attachments with their caregivers after having spent their first few years in institution. it is important to note that the institutions from which Tizard derived her sample reflected far better conditions than the reported conditions in Romanian orphanages (Chisholm.…”

Beyond insecurity: A reconceptualization of attachment disorders of infancy.

“…Research on the characteristics of children raised in institutions (Provence & Lipton, 1962;Skeels, 1966;Tizard & Hodges, 1978;Tizard & Rees, 1974,1975 has influenced the criteria for the disinhibited and indiscriminately social type of attachment disorder. In the Tizard and Rees (1975) investigation, for example, 10 of 26 children institutionalized for their first 4 years of life were noted on evaluation at age 4.5 years to have superficial attachments to staff members, with attention-seeking, clinginess, and overfriendly behavior with strangers being notable social characteristics. show selective attachments, a relative lack of selectivity in the persons from whom comfort is sought, and poorly modulated social interactions with unfamiliar persons across a range of social situations.…”