family dysfunctions as a psychological explanation Flashcards
what are family dysfunctions?
abnormal processes within a family such as high levels of expressed emotions.
what is Bateson (1956) double binds theory?
no win situations that children are put into lead to schizophrenia. (predisposed to it)
primary communication (verbal) VS meta communication (additional information aids interpretation)
children may start to doubt their own perceptions of reality, and lose their grip on it leading to a psychotic break on reality
what is a schizophrenogetic mother?
a mother who’s personality is ‘schizophrenia causing’
what did Fromm-Reichmann (1948) suggest about a a schizophrenogetic mother/family?
family of schizophrenics often have high emotional tension, many secrets, close aliances and conspiracies.
what emotions are family of schizophrenics high in?
often high in ‘expressed emotions’ (crisitism, hostility, emotional over involvement) with patterns of communication that are different to ‘normal’ families
what are the characteristics of a schizophrenogenic mother?
cold and distant, dominant, severe and guilt-producing
what characteristics would a father have alongside a schizophrenogenic mother that makes them more likely to display schizophrenic symptoms?
a weak passive father alongside a schizophrenogenic mother can cause schizophrenic symptoms in an individual- it ‘drives’ a child to schizophrenia
AO3: how is ‘supporting evidence’ a strength to family dysfunctions as a psychological explanation to schizophrenia?
Brown et al. (1966) investigated the expressed emotion in the families containing a schizophrenia sufferer. they conducted a 9 month follow up of schizophrenic patients who had returned to their family homes after their discharge from hospital. they interviewed some of the relatives the patient would be living with and divided them into high expressed emotion and low expressed emotion. they were interested in the relapse rates of the schizophrenics at the end of the 9 month period. at the end of the 9 months, 10% of the patients returning to low expressed emotion homes had relapsed, compared to 58% high expressed emotion homes.
AO3: how is ‘real life application’ a strength to family dysfunctions as a psychological explanation to schizophrenia?
one strength of identifying the role the family plays in the development of schizophrenia is that there is real life applications of the research. for example, it led to the development of family therapy that plays a significant role on preventing relapse. this is good because William McFarlane (2016) concluded family therapy is one of the most consistently effective treatment avaliable for schizophrenia. relapse rates were seen to be reduced by 50-60%. however, is family therapy primarily for economic or therapeutic benefits as the states don’t need to pay much for it.
AO3: how is ‘cause and effect’ a limitation to family dysfunctions as a psychological explanation to schizophrenia?
one problem with this explanation is that its difficult to establish cause and effect. for example, Klebanoff (1959) suggested family patterns correlated with schizophrenia actually constitute a reasonable response to an unusual child. this is problematic because it suggests the family difficulties may be an effect of living with someone with schizophrenia, rather than the cause of it. however, we cant tell from most research. science aims to establish the cause and effect between variables. if a theory cant do this, we can claim it lacks scientific status.
AO3: how is ‘ethical implications’ a limitation to family dysfunctions as a psychological explanation to schizophrenia?
one problem with this explanation is that is has negative ethical implications. for example, it is mainly blaming the mother for family dysfunctions. this is problematic as it leads to predjudice and discrimination, it makes assumptions about her role. however, this was challenged by Waring and Ricks (1995) who said mothers often shy and feel guilt.
