Social Psychological Explanation Of Schizophrenia

Answer 1

One social psychological explanation for schizophrenia is dysfunctional families. This is based on the environment one’s lives in e.g. the people living in the household.
This social psychological explanation is split up into two different factors; the double bind theory and expressed emotions

Question 2

Double bind theory

Answer 2

The double bind theory is the idea that children are left in a state of confliction within their environment caused by their parents
- this theory explains that SZ as being a consequence of abnormal and inadequate patterns of communication within the families of schizophrenia
- for example, Bateson found that families of schizophrenics communicate in a harmful and ambiguous way. - a mother will term the child that she loves him, but in a tone of voice (as well as other paralinguistics such as facial expressions) that doesn’t suggest love
- if this is repeatedly done the child will become unable to respond logically to others.
- this therefore leads to the child getting two separate messages and as these two messages contradict each other, it causes conflict
- regardless of the child’s actions, they can’t win meaning they’re in a double bind
- in reference to schizophrenia, Bateson argued that such double bind statements can lead to positive SZ symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions
- these symptoms arise as a mean of escaping the conflict caused by these contradictory statements
- it could also lead to negative symptoms such as avolituon, flatness of effect etc

Question 3

Expressed emotion

Answer 3

brown identified 5 components of EE: critical comments, Hostility, emotional over involvement, warmth and positive regard
- hostility was noted as present in high EE caregivers as was the result of unmanageable anger, irritation and rejection of a patient
- warmth was measured by the vocal qualities, smiling and empathy expressed when the caregiver was talking about the individual with SZ and is more evident in low EE caregivers
- a family communication style in which members of the family of a psychiatric patient talk about the patient in a critical manner or in a way that indicate emotional over involvement with the patient and their behaviour
- for example, brown investigated SZ patients after they had been discharged from a mental health facility and found that those returning home with high levels of expressed emotion were more likely of relapse
- further research showed over 200 studies that found that 70% of schizophrenics in families with expressed emotion relapsed within a year compared to the 30% relapse rate of patients from families with low levels of EE
- hence why this is primarily suggested as an explanation for relapse
- however this could also be a causal factor in developing schizophrenia (in someone who is already vulnerable )

Question 4

Evaluation - research support for EE