Self-schemas include our views of what we are, what we might become and what is important to us. Other aspects of self-schemas concern our notions of the various roles we occupy or might occupy in our social environment. These schemas can be sources of psychological vulnerabilities. This is because some of our schemas may be distorted and inaccurate and also may be resistant to change. These concepts are rules that once established may be hard to identify and it may be difficult to change them deliberately.
Accommodation is, of course, a basic goal of psychosocial therapies.
The consequences can be interpreted from several psychosocial viewpoints. The effects include general impediments in relationships and poor attachments to significant others. This is only likely to occur when institutionalization happens at an early age. This may involve physical neglect, denial of love and affection, lack of interest in the child's activities, inconsistent punishment and lack of respect for the child's rights and feelings. The effects may range from the emergence of overly aggressive and compulsive behavior to difficulties in linguistic development and emotional and relationship problems.