Social Psychological Explanations Of SZ Flashcards
Where does the dysfunctional families explanation come from?
From the idea that family relationships could be a causal factor for the onset of SZ. It’s not based on unconscious concepts - looking at the dynamic of family relationships.
What are the main elements of expressed emotion (EE)?
When families persistently exhibit negative emotions like criticism and hostility.
-Verbal criticism sometimes accompanied by violence.
-Hostility towards child, including anger and rejection.
-Emotional over-involvement in the life of the child/patient. High levels of happiness and sadness, extreme over-protectiveness of the caregiver.
What did Brown find in relation to relapses and EE households?
Patients who were discharged from psychiatric care into high EE households were often readmitted due to relapse.
EE has been associated with high relapse rates and rarely results in the onset of SZ symptoms.
How did Brown assess EE?
By measuring:
-Frequency of critical comments made towards patient.
-Number of statements of dislike and resentment towards patient.
-Number of statements reflecting over-involvement/over-protectiveness towards patient.
What did Butzlaff and Holley (1998) find in relation to EE and relapse rates?
They reviewed over 200 studies of EE and found that 70% of schizophrenics in families with high EE relapsed within a year compared to 30% relapse rate from families with low EE rates.
This suggests that reducing levels of EE in families with SZ members may significantly reduce relapse rates.
Evaluate a strength of the dysfunctional families explanation of SZ (supporting evidence).
Berger (1960) interviewed schizophrenics and found they reported higher rates of recall of double bind statements by their mothers than non-schizophrenics. However, it may be difficult to know if SZ patients recall of childhood is accurate. People with SZ lose touch with reality so memory may become distorted and part of the symptoms. So although there is research supporting double bind, we cannot rely on retrospective recall of the patient, therefore the validity of the results is questioned.
Evaluate a weakness of the dysfunctional families explanation of SZ (nurture).
It only looks at how the environment of a person with SZ impacts the likelihood of the onset of SZ through looking at their surrounding environment rather than focusing on other factors. Eg, bio factors may also impact the onset of SZ like dopamine. Increased dopamine levels have been found to have a strong link when it comes to this and symptoms of SZ. This means even though it looks at nurture, it completely ignores nature which may be able to better explain the onset of SZ symptoms.
Evaluate a weakness of the dysfunctional families explanation of SZ (unscientific).
It’s not scientific. Most of the supporting research is self-report which means families may not be willing to be truthful about how dysfunctional their home is due to social desirability bias. This is a weakness of the explanation as it means the results lack validity.
What are the 4 main sociocultural factors?
Life events.
Urbanicity.
Social isolation.
Ethnicity and discrimination.
Describe life events as a sociocultural factor of SZ.
Stressful/traumatic life events can trigger the onset of SZ.
The reason why is unknown.
It has been linked to changes in neurotransmitter levels in the brain.
Brown and Birley (1968) found around 50% of people experienced a big life event 3 weeks before the SZ episode. 12% said they had one 9 weeks before.
Describe urbanicity as a sociocultural factor of SZ.
The population has lived a rural lifestyle, dependent on farming to survive.
Urban areas have grown drastically and this doesn’t suit the evolutionary traits of humans, which many explain high MH disorder rates in urban areas. These rates are likely due to; greater socioeconomic adversity, pollution, overcrowding, drug abuse. These contribute to higher social stress than those living in rural areas. Social stress = SZ.
Describe ethnicity and discrimination as a sociocultural factor of SZ.
Since 1970s, diagnosis for Afro-Caribbean people were higher than expected. They also had higher rates of compulsory admission to psychiatric facilities compared to voluntary. The explanation cannot be genetic as the same result is not observed in studies conducted in the Caribbean. It was suggested that the stress of migration/integration to a new culture may cause it. Although, higher SZ rates were observed in Afro-Caribbean children of migrants in the UK which suggests discrimination may onset SZ. Discrimination = social isolation/urbanicity.
How can sociocultural factors explain SZ?
They explain the TRIGGERS for the onset of SZ, not the onset itself.
Evaluate a strength of the sociocultural factors explanation of SZ (supporting evidence).
Faris and Dunham (1939) reported a greater incidence of SZ when comparing densely populated outskirts of the city. However, the study was conducted in 1939, since then society will have changed as the population size increased. This means that although there’s supporting evidence, it may lack temporal validity and cannot be applied to the present day.
Evaluate a weakness of the sociocultural factors of SZ (cultural differences).
It does not consider cultural differences when it comes to diagnosis. It states that more Afro-Caribbean people are diagnosed with SZ however, this could be due to cultural differences as psychiatry is dominated by white males. A symptom of SZ may be considered abnormal in 1 culture and normal in another. However this may lead to wider representation within psychiatry in relation to other cultures. So even though it doesn’t consider cultural differences, it may increase cultural understanding and awareness.
Evaluate a weakness of the sociocultural factors explanation of SZ (nurture).
It ignores any nature factors. The explanation only looks at SZ determined by the surrounding environment however, there may be others factors regarding the onset of SZ that have a large impact. Eg, bio factors like genetics, may cause the onset of SZ. This is a weakness as it does not look at the onset of SZ as a whole.
