Psychological Explanations - Family Dysfunction Flashcards
3 types of family dysfunction
Schizophrenogenic mother
Double binds
Expressed emotion
Who found out about schizophrenogenic mothers causing schizophrenia
From-reichmann 1948
What does schizophrenogenic mean
Schizophrenia causing
Characteristics of a schizophrenogenic mother
Cold, rejecting and controlling
Process of schizophrenogenic mother
Mother is cold rejecting and controlling
- creating tension and secrecy within the family climate
- leading to distrust and symptoms such as paranoia, delusions and eventually developing schizophrenia.
Who was associated with double binds
Bateson 1956
What did Bateson emphasise
Though family climate is important, he emphasised communication style in the family
Did Bateson believe double bind communication always led to schizophrenia
No, it’s a risk factor thought not everyone with schizophrenia had this communication style
What is double bind communication
Child receives mixed messages
Example of double bind
‘Well done for passing your test for once’
How does double bind lead to schizophrenia
- child fears of doing anything wrong
- feeling unable to comment on situation
- effects child by being punished by withdrawal of love
- leading to schizophrenia symptoms
Schizophrenia symptoms double binds causes
Flattened expression of emotions and feelings
- withdrawal
- disorganised thinking
- paranoid delusions due to feeling the world is confusing and dangerous
- difficult to create coherent construction of reality because contradictions in communication
Who came up with 2 types of double binds
Lidz 1973
The two types of double binds
Martial schism
Martial skew
Marital schism def
Parents are emotionally distant, neither mother or father compromise and there may be competition for children’s attention
Def marital skew
One parent dominates and the other is submissive and yell ding to over bearing dominance of other
Expressed emotion refers to
Refers to the level of emotions shown to a parent by their caregivers
High levels of negative expressed emotion act as
As serious cause of stress for the patient
3 aspects of negative expressed emotion
Verbal criticism sometimes with violence
Hostility towards patient including anger and rejection
Emotional over involvement including needless self sacrifice
How does expresses emotion cause schizophrenia
- source of stress for patient
- they can act as a trigger for someone with genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and reason for relapse
4 evaluation points
Strength - supportive evidence
Weakness - incomplete explanation
Weakness - led to parent blaming
Strength - supportive evidence
Elaboration strength - supportive evidence
- teinari carriers out prospective study
- when adopted family rated as disturbed, adopted children whose biological parents had schizophrenia were more likely to develop symptoms than those who had no family history
- generic vulnerability only showed when family was disturbed
- adds to accuracy
Elaboration weakness - incomplete explanation
- fuller understanding when considering biological aspects
- eg genes as well as family dysfunction and the interaction eg diathesis stress
- needed to explain why not everyone wirh a dysfunctional family develops schizophrenia
Elaboration weakness - led to parent blaming
- parents with schizophrenia child experienced stress
- blame eg schizophrenogenic mother and double binds is inappropriate
- parent blaming harmful and has bad consequences
- eg bad stereotypes
- poor ethics
Elaboration strength - supportive evidence 2
- read reviewed 46 studies of child abuse and schizophrenia
- 69% of adult female prison inpatients ans 59% makes experienced abuse in childhood
- clear link shown between dysfunctional families and symptoms of schizophrenia
- reliability
