Social Explanations Of Schizophrenia - Sociocultural Factors

Question 1

What are sociocultural factors?

Answer 1

• aspects of society and culture in which an individual lives that affect the behaviour of the individual.
• sociocultural explanations of SZ declined after biological evidence, but there’s been a resurgence of the idea.

Question 2

Urbanicity

Answer 2

• researched has demonstrated that the rate of schizophrenia in urban areas is much higher than in rural areas.
• Faris and Dunham (1939) found incidences of SZ were higher in the densely populated centre of Chicago compared to less densely populated suburbs surrounding the city.

Question 3

Contributing factors of Urbanicity

Answer 3

• Krabbendam and Van Os identified a number of contributing factors that would help explain the higher rates of SZ in urban areas:
• the increased socioeconomic adversity/ poverty in urban areas could contribute to stressful home life
• urban areas have higher levels of drug and /or substance abuse
• overcrowding
• pollution

Question 4

Social isolation

Answer 4

• schizophrenics are often very socially isolated from others
• they may have a few friends, be estranged from family and are more likely to live alone

Question 5

How might lack of social interaction link to the symptoms of SZ?

Answer 5

• the individual nurtures these inappropriate ways of thinking and behaviour and so the strange behaviour can flourish
• for those who have little to no social network, these thoughts would remain unchallenged and may expand and become resistant to change, initiating delusions

Question 6

Faris (1934)

Answer 6

• suggested the schizophrenics may find interaction with others to be stressful and confusing and so they may retreat and withdraw from society
• therefore Urbanicity and overcrowding can lead to social interaction

Question 7

Jones et al - social isolation

Answer 7

• longitudinal study
• found that those diagnosed with SZ were more likely to show solidarity play at the age of 4-6. At 13 were more likely to rate themselves as less socially confident

Question 8

Ethnicity

Answer 8

• schizophrenia is much more prevalent in immigrants and particularly people of Afro- Caribbean descent
• Ineichen 1984, since the 1970s rates of diagnosis for Afro-Caribbean people were higher than expected. This group also had higher rates of compulsory admission to psychiatric facilities as opposed to voluntary admission.

Question 9

Cochrane and sashidharan (1995)

Answer 9

• found that black Afro- Caribbean immigrants in the UK are seven times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia than white people
• the explanation cannot be genetic because increased risk is not apparent in studies carried out in the Caribbean. Therefore it could be argued that the higher rate of schizophrenia in the migrant community may be due to increased stress caused by being an immigrant or an ethnic minority

Question 10

What could be the cause of higher diagnosis rates for black people?

Answer 10

• ethnic individuals are socially isolated due to discrimination they can develop schizophrenia
• psychiatry is dominated by white males, it could lead to discrimination in diagnosis therefore they could be misdiagnosed