schizophrenia: non-bio explanation - social causation hypothesis

Question 1

what is social adversity?

Answer 1

• refers to issues such as violent crime, segragation, exposure to delinquent peers, poverty and **poor parenting

Question 2

what is urbanicity?

Answer 2

• urban living/environment affecting mental disorders

Question 3

what is social isolation?

Answer 3

• absence of social interactions, contacts, and relationships with family and friends, with neighbours on an individual level and with “society at large” on a broader level

Question 4

what are immigrant populations?

Answer 4

• people residing in a country but born in another country

Question 5

what is a minority status?

Answer 5

• culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct group that coexists with, but is subordinate to a more dominant group

Question 6

how can social causation and schizophrenia link?

Answer 6

• social causation view is that the human world (the people around us) acts as a major cause of schizophrenia, or at least precipitates relapse in those who already have a diagnosis
• there are many environmental risk factors which include family dysfunction and childhood trauma, however some of the best supported risk factors are social adversity, urbanicity, social isolation and immigrant and/or minority group status

Question 7

how can social adversity explain schizophrenia?

Answer 7

• people have basic needs
• physical needs such as nutrition, warmth and shelter but they can also be intellectual, emotional and social
• some children grow up in environments which are less than favourable than others and this can make them vulnerable to mental health disorders in the future
• e.g. families affected by unemployment, poverty and poorer standard of living may be exposed to considerably more stress that other families
• people from lower socioeconomic groups may not be able to access treatment for schizophrenia, leaving them ever more vulnerable and further exacerbating their problems

Question 8

how can urbanicity explain schizophrenia?

Answer 8

• Eaton 1974 suggested that city life is more stressful that rural life and life-long exposure to such stress may trigger an episode of schizophrenia
• there are many stressors linked to city life including noise, light, pollution, criminality, faster pace and greater anonymity
• collectively there factors may make a person more vulnerable to schizophrenia

Question 9

how can social isolation explain schizophrenia?

Answer 9

• Faris 1934 has suggested people with schizophrenia withdraw because they feel contact with others is stressful
• self-imposed isolation cuts individual off from feedback about what behaviours or thoughts are inappropriate and there is no corrective feedback given, they then begin behaving strangely

Question 10

how can immigrant and minority status explain schizophrenia?

Answer 10

• research in many countries has shown that first- and second- generation immigrants are at a greater risk of schizophrenia than the general population
• however, this risk decreases as the number of people from the same ethnic background increases (Boydell et al. 2011)
• this indicates that minority or outgroup status is key, as opposed to belonging to any ethnic group
• the implication is that marginalisation of outgroups may leave people vulnerable to schizophrenia
• Veling 2008 suggests that schizophrenia may be a reaction toward the chronic experience of prejudice and discrimination

Question 11

evidence for social causation as explanation: Hjem et al. 2004

Answer 11

• shows that ’social adversity’ in childhood relates to the development of schizophrenia later in life

Question 12

evidence for social causation as explanation: Brown 2010

Answer 12

• wrote a review focusing on the **environment and susceptibility to schizophrenia
• review covered many aspects of the environment, including the environment before birth and issues such as drug-taking
• also wrote about urban living and the effects of living in different neighbourhoods relating to immigrant status

Question 13

evidence for social causation as explanation: Pedersen + Mortensen 2006

Answer 13

• research neatly demonstrates that the longer a person has been exposed to city life and the denser the population in that city, the greater their risk of developing schizophrenia

Question 14

evidence for social causation as explanation: Vassos et al. 2012

Answer 14

• carried out meta-analysis of data from 4 studies conducted in sweden, Netherlands amd denmark, including nearly 24,000 cases of schizophrenia
• correlated location (urban to rural) with schizophrenia risk and found a link
• risk with 2.37 higher for people living in the urban environment compared with the most rural environments

Question 15

weaknesses: other things

Answer 15

• those in lower socioeconomic groups, living alone, unemployed and living in poverty might be more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia suggesting a diagnose problem, not an environmental problem

Question 16

weaknesses: different theories

Answer 16

• might be that poverty, unemployment and lack of social support are stressors and it is stress that causes schizophrenia, not just environment itself

Question 17

strengths: application

Answer 17

• ideas help to explain the fact that although there are more people with schizophrenia in lower classes, they are concentrated in inner-city areas, and that black migrants are more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia than white lower-class groups. the environmental ‘breeder’ hypothesis helps to explain these two pieces of evidence better than social drift