Psychological explanations-family dsyfunction

Question 1

What is family dysfunction

Answer 1

• abnormal processes within a family such as conflict, communication problems
• sees maladaptive relationships and patterns of communication within family as sources of stress

Question 2

Family dysfunction- Freida Fromm Richmann- schizophrenogenic mother

Answer 2

• cold and dominant
• overprotective and rejecting
• this could create conflict, causing schizophrenia
• distorted family patterns are the cause of Sz

Question 3

Evidence for Schizophrenogenic mother- Oltmanns et al studies

Answer 3

• shown parents of Sz patients do act differently- particularly in presence of disturbed child
• however this is likely to be a consequence of the child’s problems
• SUPPORTS that parents engage with child differently
• but hard to establish cause and effect- parents engagement with child or child’s problem

Question 4

Dysfunctional characteristics that parents of Sz children display

Answer 4

• high levels of interpersonal conflict
• difficulty communicating with each other
• being excessively critical and controlling

Question 5

Bateson et al (1956) double bind theory

Answer 5

• suggests that children who frequently receive contradictory messages from parents more likely to develop Sz
• these interactions prevent development of an internally coherant construction of reality

Question 6

Expressed emotion

Answer 6

• environments contain high levels of hostlity and criticism towards person with Sz
• EE been found in dysfunctional families and correlated with relapse in people with Sz

Question 7

Research for EE- Vaughn and LEFF (1976)

Answer 7

-found people with sz more likely to relapse once discharged from hospital in environments of high EE

Question 8

Research for EE- Bateson 1956

Answer 8

• reported on a case study where a recovering sz was visited in hospital by his mother
• he embraced her warmly but she stiffened
• he received contradictory messages and he assualted her
• supports double blind and schizophrenic mother

Question 9

ao3 szch mother

Answer 9

An issue with this explanation is that gender bias is present, as the mother tends to be blamed, causing the research to be socially sensitive and therefore raising ethical issues such as protection from harm.

Question 10

ao3 szch mother

Answer 10

An issue with this explanation is that gender bias is present, as the mother tends to be blamed, causing the research to be socially sensitive and therefore raising ethical issues such as protection from harm.

Question 11

ee strength

Answer 11

Hogarty (1991) produced a type of therapy session, which reduced social conflicts between parents and their children. This reduced EE and therefore relapse rates. By gaining an insight into family relationships, psychiatric professions can help improve the quality of patient’s life. This has economical implications as it means that treatment can be tailored to the patient to be the most effective and reduce costs.

Question 12

ee weskness

Answer 12

, there are individual differences with this explanation as EE is associated with relapse but not all patients who live in high EE families relapse and not all patients in low EE families avoid relapse. This lowers the effectiveness of family dysfunction, the research provided and means cause and effect is hard to establish, as we cannot be certain if EE directly causes relapse.