My Research

In Romania, I will be conducting research to study the effects that institutional care has on young children and their development. I will be comparing quality of care between an orphanage and a small, children's group home which offers more of a home-type atmosphere. Here is my research paper:

Abstract

Environment has been shown to play a strong, contributing role in the development of young children. The quality of the environment can greatly benefit or hinder cognitive and social learning processes. For institutionalized children, many negative effects have been shown to take influence over this process, due to the lack of nurturing qualities most commonly attributed to the home. Studies show that among the factors that determine the overall success of child development within childcare, quality of care-type has been shown to be most significant.

Introduction

The educator and communications theorist, Marshall McLuhan stated, “Environments are not just containers, but are processes that change the content entirely.” Numerous studies have been done that show a strong positive correlation between the environment in which one is surrounded and the influences on the individual. This is markedly true for young children, whose developmental tracks are exceptionally fluid, and whose surroundings largely govern their learning processes. Not only is environment fundamental, but particularly that of the home and family. No other environment shows a greater magnitude of effects, whether positive or negative, than the incalculable influence of the home environment and the inexchangeable parental bond. With this being said, children under institutional care face some of the biggest challenges. Not only have they come from difficult circumstances that brought them to the state, but they also face additional challenges that exist within the institutional setting. The challenge then, is for institutions to come up with meaningful methods that will rear infants and toddlers in settings of security, consistency, and learning opportunities. It is important to recognize that while child care amenities have the ability to facilitate children in a positive manner, it is difficult to establish characteristics as influential as those provided by the home environment. In the past two decades, one of the most consistent findings to emerge in child development research is the link between quality of care and a child’s developmental progress. Little attention, however, has been directed toward quality of care within different types of child care settings (NICHD,1998). In order to fill in this gap, different types of care should be analyzed to determine the differences, if any, that exist in environmental settings and how each contributes to a child’s cognitive and social growth.

Literature Review

Vast amounts of studies and research have been conducted to evaluate cognitive and social development in institutionalized children. In sync with the afore mentioned link between higher quality care and improvement in development, the National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development (NICHD) performed a longitudinal study in 2003 to determine the strength of this correlation. More than 1,000 children from various care centers were followed from birth to 4 ½ yrs of age, and by means of interviews and observations, cognitive skills and social behaviors were assessed for each child. Findings showed that there was indeed a strong correlation between child-care quality and children’s linguistic, cognitive, and social functioning. Those in child-care homes experienced significantly lower levels of behavioral problems and a higher level of social competence than children at a center.

In another study conducted by Fyvie and Ager (1997), 119 institutionalized orphans in Iasi, Romania between the ages of 16 and 24 were surveyed. Each orphan came from one of three groups; those raised in a state-run institution, non-state orphans attending a center for learning disabilities, and non-state orphans attending a mainstream school. The survey used in the study was split up into two parts, questioning these young adults about family-related variables and their academic achievement. After conducting the survey, Fyvie and Ager made two major conclusions. First, they emphasized the importance of cultivating “family links” while children are growing up in an institution and the associated feelings of security. Second, the survey showed that the type of institutional care received contributed immensely to each individual’s academic standing and overall success. It was hypothesized that the children who grew up in the state orphanages were at a much greater disadvantage than those who had attended either a center for the handicapped or a public school.

One method developed and practiced by the Pikler Institute in Budapest (2003), greatly contributed to the utilizing of methods to improve the development of children living within an institution setting. By placing high concentration on the roles of the caregiver and by simulating home-type qualities, they were able to render higher-levels of development as they eliminated many institutional characteristics. Nurses at the institution focused on having close, one-on-one interactions with individual children and bathed them in rich verbal exchange. Caregivers would always ask children for permission before performing tasks, so that “nothing was ever done in silence”. In addition, nurses offered consistency and predictability through highly structured schedules to give children higher feelings of security. During playtime, emphasis was placed on learning rather than teaching, and children were encouraged to develop skills naturally and in their own time. In allowing kids to explore without adult intervention, they developed “faith in their own skills” and independence. Finally, while nurses worked to build bonds with the children, they maintained enough distance so that when the time arrived for separation, it wouldn’t devastate child or caretaker. The outcomes of the Pikler methods were remarkable. Researchers studied 30 children who had spent their years of infancy in the Pikler Institute and found that none of the children showed any signs of institutionalization, emotional disturbance, or impaired development.

Not only have findings regarding the quality of child-care types been significant towards understanding child development in institutions, but also the numbers of children within a facility. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey Of Youth (NLSY), Blau (1999) discovered a positive correlation between child development outcomes and characteristics of low ratios between adults and children. The sample consisted of 12, 652 individuals between the ages of 14 and 21. Subjects were assessed using standard development tests at the age of 4 or 5, and then reassessed every two years. Variables included in the analysis were staff:child ratios, group sizes, and level of staff training. Training was classified by whether or not formal training or schooling had been received in childhood or special education. The outcome of the tests revealed that children scored better on the tests whose childcare experience was characterized by low ratios and more highly trained staff. They also found that these measures had lesser impact on children in their first three years of life, and increased significantly at 3 to 6 years. From this study, researchers were able to draw the conclusion that the factors of group size, staff:child ratio, and training render children, especially those between 3 and 6, in higher developmental success.

Methodology

For a four-month duration, the environmental settings surrounding two distinct, non-maternal state facilities in Iasi, Romania were analyzed. Dissimilarities between a children’s placement center and a small group home were observed on a regular basis to determine the effects of a standard institutional setting versus a more home-like atmosphere. The method for analysis used was observational study and no factors within each setting were simulated or altered. Child-care measures were based solely off of the following variables: type of child-care, quality of care within the facility, and the staff to child ratio and interactive group sizes. The two samples of children observed in the study came from a variety of family circumstances and were of various ages, although the majority was made up of infants and toddlers. The samples used were significant to the qualitative research, because the majority were at the age where environment is critical to their developmental processes.

Type Of Care-
For this observational study, the two types of care-giving arrangements were simply classified as either center or group home.

Quality of Child Care-
Assessment of quality of care was obtained through observation of the fulfillment of care-giving roles and qualifications of the staff. During the observational intervals at each location, fulfillment of care-giving roles was determined by a few different factors. Notes were taken on the interactions between caregivers and children, including responses to behavior, amount of one-on-one communication, and consistency in methods. The verification of staff qualifications was based on interviews with full-time staff members to find what amount of schooling, if any, was completed beforehand and what other child care experience they had.

Staff:Child Ratio-
The quantitative ratio of staff members to children was measured by taking the total number of staff supposed to be working at any given time versus the number of children enrolled in the facility. In addition to this measurement, group sizes for activities during playtime, feeding, etc. were noted to determine how much close interaction was offered to each child.

Why There Are So Many Orphans

One of the most outrageous policies that was put into place under Nicolae Ceausescu, was created in an attempt to double the entire poulation of Romania in just ten short years. In efforts to accomplish this, contraceptives and abortions were made illegal and all women were forced to have monthly examinations to ensure abortion attempts hadn't been made. After 1983, all women were expected to birth a minimum of five children. Failure to do so would result in being taxed infeasible amounts of money, making it even more difficult for families to survive off of their already meager incomes. Barren and unmarried women were also subjected to higher taxes. Women who were submissive to the policy were glorified by propaganda calling them "Heroine Mothers". Because families were so impoverished, many could not afford to support their children and had to give them up to state orphanages. Sadly, others simply abandoned them. By the time Ceausescu was executed in 1989, there were over 200,000 children under state care. With so many children and such a small number of caretakers within each orphanage (roughly 2 workers per 100 children), the children spent their most critical years of development laying in cribs with little or no human interaction. As a result, the majority developed severe physical and mental disorders from lack of stimulation, interaction, and nurturing. For some, the lack of being nurtured was enough to stop their bodies' growth entirely. This meant that even a decade later, a child could still appear and have the same mental capacity as an infant. In addition to the disorders, children fought malnutrition, disease from the unsanitary conditions, and mistreatment. Those that managed to learn to crawl were tied by the ankle to their cribs to keep them from climbing out.

Since 1989, conditions have improved, but change is still slow. There are about 50,000 children in orphanages and other facilities today. While this is only a fourth of the original number, there are still far too few resources to give adequate care to these children. In addition to those under state care, there are thousands more children living on the streets who have either run away from a facility or were released due to their age.

About My Internship

I will be working with orphans in Romania, the majority being disabled and having severe developmental delays. The purpose of my work there is to assist the children in their physical, emotional, and social development through structured play, as well as tests performed to track their progression over a four month period. Test results and thorough notes about each child's behavior, symptoms, and progress will be kept and filed for the facility's future reference. I will be working one on one with about five children for the entire duration, to provide for them a secure attachment, but will also dedicate time and attention to numerous others. I will also be conducting my own developmental research, which I can integrate into the time spent with these children. I'll be volunteering out of the orphanage six hours a day, and a few additional hours each day with the orphans at a local hospital. The children in both places range in ages from a few months to about ten, but infants and toddlers make up the majority.

The internship is located in Iasi (pronounced "yawsh"), Romania, which is the second largest city, located on the northeastern border of Europe. Romanian is the spoken language. The people there are of many different nationalities, but the majority are Romanian and Gypsy. They are among the poorest of all people in Europe. The country is still struggling to recover from a corrupt government control under Nicolae Ceausescu and the damages of communism. Revival is slow, but Romania was finally able to join the European Union in January of 2007, and some positive changes are sure to come as a result.
(read more in "A Brief History: The Downfall Of Romania")