non biological explanation For Schizophrenia (social causation) Flashcards
name one biological explanation to schizophrenia.
social causation hypothesis.
social causation hypothesis
The human world (people around you) is a major cause of schizophrenia (or at least of relapse).
Many environmental risk factors contribute (e.g. family dysfunction, childhood trauma).
Social adversity
failure to meet needs can be stressful
what can make children vulnerable to mental health disorders in the future?
what’s a problem for lower socioeconomic groups?
-All human beings have the same basic needs (physical but also intellectual, emotional and social).
-some children grew up in unfavourable environments making them vulnerable to mental health disorders in the future. (unemployment and poverty expose some families to stress).
-People from lower socioeconomic groups may not be able to access treatment. This makes their problems worse.
urbanicity.
Link between urban living and schizophrenia.
what makes city life more stressful?
what’s a result of high population density?
-city life is more stressful than rural life - noise, light pollution, criminality, faster pace, anonymity.
-long-term exposure may make a person more vulnerable to having an episode of schizophrenia.
-high population density makes life more competitive, which many increase experience of chronic social defeat (a stressor that occurs when a person is exposed to hostile confrontations from another individual, such as bullying).
social isolation
people with schizophrenia withdraw.
what’s did faris 1934 find?
what does self-imposed isolation mean for those with schizophrenia?
-people with schizophrenia find contact with others stressful (Faris 1934).
-self-imposed isolation cuts them off from feedback about what behaviours or thoughts are inappropriate - they begin to behave ‘strangely’ without corrective feedback.
who found people with schizophrenia to find contact with others stressful?
Faris 1934
immigration and minority status.
immigrants are at greater risk of schizophrenia than the general population.
what groups are at greater risk?
when does this risk decrease?
what did veiling 2008 suggest?
which group out of the two is at greater risk?
one example why.
what does this create?
-research shows greater risk for first- and second-generation immigrants in many countries.
-risk decreases as the number of people from the same ethnic background increase - minority or outgroup status is key, not belonging to a particular ethnic group.
-this implies marginalisation of outgoups may leave people vulnerable to schizophrenia.
-Veiling 2008 suggests schizophrenia may be a reaction against chronic experience of prejudice and discrimination.
second-generation immigrants are at greater risk than first-generation for example, their beliefs and expectations may be at odds with those of their parents and extended family.
-this creates stress which worsens vulnerability to schizophrenia.
who suggest schizophrenia may be a reaction against chronic experience of prejudice and discrimination?
veiling 2008
strengths
What did Vassos et al. 2012 analyse data from?
what did this show?
What did further research by veiling 2010 show?
What did this suggest?
-meta analyses supporting the role of urban dwelling.
-Vassos et al. 2012 performed a meta-analysis of data from four studies conducted in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark to correlate location (urban to rural) with schizophrenia risk.
The risk was 2.37 times higher for people living in the most urban environments compared with the most rural.
This shows that relative risk of schizophrenia increases in line with population density.
-further supporting research by veiling 2010 into ethnic identity.
-veiling et al. 2010 studied people classed as marginalised (both weak national and ethnic identity) and assimilated (strong national identity,
but weak ethnic identity).
They were at greater risk of schizophrenia than people classed integrated (both strong national and ethnic identity) or separated (weak national identity,
but strong ethnic identity).
This suggests that a strong ethnic identity (identifying with and embracing ethnic differences) may be a protective factor against schizophrenia.
who performed a meta-analysis of data from four studies conducted in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark to correlate location (urban to rural) with schizophrenia risk.
Vassos et al 2012
who studied people classed as marginalised (both weak national and ethnic identity) and assimilated (strong national identity,
but weak ethnic identity).
veiling 2010
counter argument
what’s a problem with being purely correlational?
What does the social drift hypothesis suggest?
What does this mean?
What does this suggest about the data collected?
However, the data collected is purely correlational, so not is not possible to say whether schizophrenia is cause by unbanicity or adversity. The social drift hypothesis suggests the reverse is true - people with schizophrenia find it hard to hold down a job, so they drift into a lower social class than their parents and siblings, migrating into deprived inner-city areas. So schizophrenia leads to urbanicity rather than vice versa.
this suggests that the data collected lacks credibility as no causal relationship can be identified between the effects of urbanicity and adversity.
weaknesses
What does the diathesis stress model suggest?
What did Gottesman and shields 1966 identify?
What does this show?
What does this therefore mean?
-social causation hypothesis cannot be a full explanation for schizophrenia; reason to argue that genetic component exists.
we know there is a genetic contribution to the development of schizophrenia as the diathesis stress model suggests a person my possess schizophrenia genes (diathesis) but is only triggered by other biological or environmental effects
Gottesman and shields 1966 identified a concordance rate of 42% for MZ twins and 9% for DZ twins, the greater rate for MZ shows that biology certainly plays a significant role while not being entirely genetic.
Therefore environmental factors mat trigger schizophrenia in people genetically predisposed.
who identified a concordance rate of 42% for MZ twins and 9% for DZ twins
Gottesman and shields 1966
application
How can the social causation hypothesis help to treat schizophrenia?
What do housing projects do?
What is this a critical step for?
treatment
The social causation hypothesis can help treat schizophrenia by drawing attention to factors affecting mental health at community level.
Housing projects which reduce overcrowding and celebrate cultural diversity foster resilience and help communities arm themselves against mental breakdown.
This is a critical step in developing a sense of collective social responsibility for not only our own mental well-being, but also that of other people.
