Social Causation Explanation for SZ

Question 1

Social Causation A01

Answer 1

Environment acts as a major cause for SZ
Include things such as trauma, adversity & urbanicity (More adversity, isolation & crime in cities)

Social Defeat Hypothesis

Question 2

Eval. of Social Causation Explanation for SZ

Answer 2

Strengths
- Vassos (2012) did meta-analysis of 24,000 cases. Found that the risk of SZ in the most urban environments was 2.37x higher than most rural

• Veling (2008) suggests SZ may be a result of chronic prejudice and discrimination, hence why certain immigrants at greater risk of SZ

Weaknesses
- Social Drift Hypothesis suggests those with SZ find it harder to hold down job, drift into lower social class -> migrate to inner-city areas. Thus SZ could lead to urbanicity instead of vice versa

• Diathesis Stress Model may be more accurate. That environmental factors may ‘trigger’ SZ in those genetically predisposed to it. As studies such as Gottesman and Shields have shown that genetics play a role through twin studies (42% MZ, 9% DZ). The stressor could cause mutations in genes etc.

Question 3

Social Defeat Hypothesis

Answer 3

When a person is exposed to hostile confrontations with another. Results in exclusion from the majority group = more stress