schizophrenia - social explanation

Question 1

what did pederson and mortenson find

Answer 1

found that individuals who spent their first 15 years of life in a highly urban area were nearly 3x more likely to be diagnosed with sz, compared with people who grew up in rural areas

Question 2

what is the environmental breeder hypothesis

Answer 2

• sz is more prevalent in the lower social classes
• features of big city life may be casually implicated (being born or brought up in such areas in itself a risk factor)
• interest in environmental causes have been reignited by evidence from a different 1/4. high rates of psychotic illness found among afro-caribbean and other black immigrant groups
• risk factors include unemployment, poverty, social isolation and poor housing

Question 3

what are first generation immigrants

Answer 3

individuals born in one country and come to live in another when young

Question 4

what are second immigrants

Answer 4

children born of second generation immigrants

Question 5

what is social adversity

Answer 5

negative life experiences

Question 6

what is social drift

Answer 6

sz drift down into the other social classes (due to not being able to keep a job)

Question 7

how much more likely are afro carribeans to have sz

Answer 7

6 times more likely

Question 8

list the factors that have the least to the most evidence

Answer 8

crowding 
pollution 
viruses 
daily life stress 
social inequality 
social isolation

Question 9

conclusions of the social explanantion

Answer 9

must be some environmental factors involved in the development of the illness. factors such as poverty, unemployment, poor housing and social isolation all may play a part

Question 10

evaluation of the social explanation

Answer 10

• correlation so cant establish a cause and effect
• not everyone with certain environmental risk factors develops sz
• it is possible that the research evidence is biased, people with ethnic minority groups, lower social class, unemployed are more likely to receive a label
• drug and alcohol abuse could be associated with social stress and it is this that affects people in these groups to sz rather than social stress itself
• PEDERSON AND MORTENSON found that the longer a child had been exposed to urban living the greater the probability of developing sz
• VELING risk of sz was associated with perceived racial discrimination, weak ethnic identity, low ethnic density
• PEDERSON AND MORTENSON took into account factors associated with urban living that can also be independent risk factors for sz such as flu or birth complications
• helps to explain research findings regarding the higher incidence of sz in people facing socio-economic adversity who are also from ethnic minority groups
• suggestions for improving later mental health of children from ethnic minority communities