psychological explanations Flashcards
schizophrenogenic mother
fromm reichmann - psychodynamic explanation based on accounts heard from clients about their childhood
noted many clients spoke of particular type of parent - schizophrenogenic mother - cold, rejecting and controlling, tends to create family climate characterised by tension and secrecy leading to distrust that develops into paranoid delusions and ultimately SZ
double bind theory
bateson et al - emphasises role of communication style within family - developing child feels trapped in situations where they fear doing wrong thing but receive mixed messages about what this is and feel unable to comment on unfairness of situation or seek clarification.
when they do ‘get it wrong’, child is punished with withdrawal of love, leaving them with understanding of world as confusing and dangerous - reflected in symptoms like disorganised thinking and paranoid delusions.
expressed emotion
level of emotion expressed towards person with SZ by carers
contains several elements: verbal criticism, hostility, emotional over involvement.
high levels of EE directed towards person are source of stress for patient - explanation for relapse in people with SZ however it’s been suggested that it may be a source of threat that can trigger onset of SZ in people who are already vulnerable
cognitive explanations
frith et al identified 2 kinds of dysfunctional thought processing that could underlie some symptoms of SZ
metarepresentation - cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour. dysfunction in metarepresentations disrupt ability to recognise our own actions and thoughts as being carried out by ourselves rather than someone else - explains hallucinations of voices and delusions.
central control - cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses. disorganised speech and thought disorder could result from inability to suppress automatic thoughts
evaluation - support for family dysfunction as a risk factor
evidence to suggest difficult family relationships in childhood are associated with increased risk of schizophrenia in adulthood
read et al - reviewed 46 studies of child abuse and schizophrenia and concluded that 69% of adult women in-patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia had history of physical or sexual abuse in childhood. for men figure was 59%.
evaluation - empirical support for double bind theory
berger - found schizophrenics reported higher recall of double bind statements from mothers than non schizophrenics - suggests there’s wider academic credibility for idea of contradictory messages causing SZ, however evidence may not be reliable as recall may be affected by SZ.
evaluation - individual differences in vulnerability to EE
not all patients who live in high EE families relapse and not all patients who live in low EE homes avoid relapse
vulnerability to influences of high EE may be psychologically based - lebell et al - how patients assess behaviour of relatives is important - cases where high EE not perceived as negative or stressful - patients do well regardless of how family environment is objectively rated
evaluation - parent blaming
dysfunctional family explanations for SZ led to parent blaming - parents who’ve observed child’s descent into SZ and who’re likely to bear lifelong responsibility for their care undergo further trauma by receiving blame for condition
shift from hospital to community care involving parental care may be one factor leading to decline of schizophrenogenic mother and double bind theories
evaluation - cause and effect
remains unclear whether cognitive factors cause SZ or if SZ causes these cognitions - explanation is limited
