L3 - Short Cut For 16 Marker

Question 1

Culture bias AO1

Answer 1

• Hearing voices can be influenced by culture. 60 adults with Schiz were interviewed, all heard voices but patients from the USA reported most negative experiences. Voices were violent and hateful. Culture has an influence on the reliability of diagnosing Schiz.
• In Asian cultures, people are rewarded if they do not show they are suffering so are unlikely to get help. In Arabic cultures, people are encouraged to show emotions and are likely to seek help. There is a cultural bias when examining the No. of people from diff cultures who suffer from Schiz.

Question 2

Culture bias AO3

Answer 2

(-) Cultural Relativism: psychologist may not understand patients symptoms correctly because of misunderstanding their cultural background. They might misdiagnose Schiz or wrongly label the patient. Some people with African backgrounds might be misdiagnosed as they ‘hear the voice of God’, they would be seen as gifted in their culture, but might be seen as a delusion, a symptom of Schiz, leading to an invalid diagnosis.
(+) Evidence for cultural relativism: Afro-Caribbean people have little immunity to flu, and children born to mothers who had the flu whilst in the second trimester have an 88% increased chance of developing Schiz, and there might a cultural vulnerability .
(+) Evidence for cultural differences. The ethnic culture hypothesis predicts that ethnic minorities experience less distress if they have Schiz as they have protective characteristics and social structures in their cultures. 184 Schiz patients were invested from Latino, African-American or White American cultures. Americans had more symptoms because they had less protective features in the culture

Question 3

Gender bias AO1

Answer 3

• Males show more negative symptoms & suffer more from substance abuse
• Males have earlier onset
• Disagreement between clinicians with diagnosing when gender is involved. Accuracy can vary from stereotypical beliefs about gender
• Critics of DSM say healthy behaviour is linked to healthy males rather than healthy females so it is gender biased and could be invalid

Question 4

Gender bias AO3

Answer 4

(-) 290 male and female psychologists got case studies (one male and female), and had to diagnose them according to the criteria. When the patient was given no gender or presented as male, 56% of psychologists diagnosed them as Schiz. When patient was female, no. lowered to 20%. Shows there is a gender bias during diagnosis, most prominent with male psychologists
(-) Validity can be questioned as females develop Schiz 4-10 years later than males. There are diff types of Schiz that the genders are vulnerable to, and this must be taken into account
(+) Females might be less vulnerable to Schiz. The sex hormone estradiol helps treat Schiz in females esp when added to anti-psychotic drugs. Might be a protective factor, lowering their chances of getting Schiz.