Family dysfunction Flashcards
What is family dysfunction?
They emphasise family orientated theories of the disorder that emphasise the importance of childhood upbringing and in particular trauma in the development of SZ in adulthood. They stress the importance of maladaptive family relationships and poor communication in the contribution of the development of SZ
Influence of Freudian ideas?
If a child is to experience trauma in childhood, this could be repressed or denied using defence mechanism. This will create unconscious conflict which could manifest in adulthood in the form of SZ symptoms
Schizophrenogenic mother?
Mother figure (who may have their own Psychological issues) generally described as cold, rejecting, emotionally disturbed, perfectionist, domineering, and lacking in sensitivity towards the child
Conversely, she is also described as being overprotective, encouraging dependence, and both rigidly moral and seductive.
This sets up lines of FAULTY COMMUNICATION between her & the child. This can create excessive stress that could trigger psychotic thinking (paranoid delusions) as the child tries to make sense of the toxic home environment and this can develop into SZ in early adulthood
Bateson’s double-bind hypothesis?
Double bind is a ‘communication dilemma’ that comes from a conflict and contradictions between two or more messages.The developing child finds themselves trapped in situations where they fear they are doing the wrong thing, but receive mixed messages about what this it and feel unable to seek clarification.When they get it wrong they are punished with the withdrawal of love .This makes them see the world as dangerous and confusing. So it doesn’t matter what they do, because any choice you make will be wrong. This is a situation in which communication only causes suffering reflected in symptoms like disorganised thinking and paranoid delusions leading to SZ in early adulthood
High expressed emotion?
EE is the level of emotion (negative emotion) expressed towards a patient by their carers. This is a family communication style that involves criticism, hostility and emotional over-involvement and excessive self sacrifice. The early classic work of Brown (1958) showed that schizophrenic patients who returned from hospital to their own households tended to have greater relapse rates than those who returned to staffed hostels. Later research (Brown et al., 1962) revealed higher relapse rates for patients who stayed with family members with high levels of expressed emotion (EE), which was characterised by three factors: (1) criticism, (2) hostility and (3) emotional over-involvement. Schizophrenics returning to such a family were more likely to relapse into the disorder than those returning to a family low in EE. The rate of relapse was particularly high if returning to a high EE family was coupled with no medication.
Family schism?
The fathers are as disturbed and pathological as the mothers, and both form rivaling factions
Family skew?
There is one parent, often the mother, who domineers the household
FAMILY DYSFUNCTION - Research evidence?
Lidz looked at 50 SZ patients and investigated their family background. 90% were found to have seriously disturbed families. 60% of the patients had one or both parents with a serious personality disorder. Parental marriages were characterised by one dominant and one submissive parent and made considerable emotional demands on the SZ patients when they were children. This explanation gives insight into SZ.
FAMILY DYSFUNCTION - Alternative explanations?
Concepts in dysfunctional families are difficult to study objectively. A more scientific alternative is biological explanations like the DA hypothesis which can be indicated using fMRI scans. This is therefore more credible.
FAMILY DYSFUNCTION - Reductionist?
Focus of this explanation is only psychological, so ignores the role of biological factors. Implies that psychology should consider having more than one level of explanation to understand the complex disorder. It is therefore too simplistic.
FAMILY DYSFUNCTION - Practical applications?
Use of family therapy has helped patients and their families develop constructive, practical coping skills which enables them to manage everyday difficulties. This can lead to less rates of relapse.
FAMILY DYSFUNCTION - Cause and effect?
It is not the definitive cause as it is argued that dysfunctional family relationships lead to SZ in young adults, but it could be that children who are vulnerable may lead to parental overprotectiveness and high expressed emotions. Therefore we cannot establish cause and effect.
