Social Causation hypothesis

Question 1

what is meant by social adversity?

Answer 1

• people in the lowest social class / group have a higher incidence of SZ in the UK

Question 2

Cooper 2005 (social adversity)

Answer 2

• found that SZ was 4.1 times higher in males classed as unskilled labourers than those classed as higher managerial

Question 3

what is meant by urbanicity?

Answer 3

• SZ is more associated with living in cities than rural areas

Question 4

Freeman 1994 (urbanicity)

Answer 4

• reported an above average incidence of SZ in Stockholm, Chicago and London

Question 5

William Eaton (urbanicity)

Answer 5

• suggests city life is more stressful than rural life and long-term exposure to such stress can trigger an episode of SZ

Question 6

why might inner city living be more stressful?

Answer 6

• busier
• higher crime rates
• noisier
• more people living in poverty
• more expensive to live

Question 7

what is meant by social isolation?

Answer 7

• self imposed isolation cuts the individual off from feedback about what behaviours are inappropriate
• in the absence of corrective feedback, they behave strangely

Question 8

Robert Faris 1934 (social isolation)

Answer 8

• suggested that people with SZ withdraw because they feel that contact with others is stressful

Question 9

what is meant by immigration and minority status?

Answer 9

• census data in the UK have shown a consistently higher incidence of SZ in Afro-Caribbean and black immigrant population.
• approx. 4 times as many cases as th indigenous population
• Afro-Caribbean people with SZ are often unemployed, living in poor inner-city areas

Question 10

Velig 2008

Answer 10

• suggests that SZ may be a reaction towards the chronic experience of prejudice and discrimination

Question 11

diathesis stress

Answer 11

• psychologists acknowledge that the onset of mental illness is caused by both environmental and biological factors
• environmental factors are thought to act as trigger for bio. predisposition
• env. factors are stressors which increase chances of reaching finish line for the onset of mental disorders

Question 12

social defeat hypothesis

Answer 12

• social defeat occurs when a person is exposed to hostile confrontations from another individual e.g. bullying or abuse
• such confrontations result in being excluded from the majority group and created high levels of stress