Psychological explanation Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is family dysfunction?
looks to explain the development of Sz as a results of early childhood and adulthood experiences within a family where specifically communication and/or relationships may be dysfunctional.
How might family dysfunction lead to Sz?
They can be risk factors for both the development and maintenance of Sz.
What are the 3 explanations for family dysfunction?
- Schizophrenogenic mother
- Expressed emotions
- Double bind theory
Which psychologist proposed the schizophrenogenic mother?
Fromm- Reichmann
What is the schizophrenogenic mother like?
The mother is cold, rejecting and controlling
What happens if high levels of expressed emotions are directed towards a Sz person?
causes them serious stress
What does the schizophrenogenic mother create?
Creates family climate of tension and secrecy
What is the double bind theory?
- Developing child finds themselves trapped in situations where they fear doing the wrong thing but receives mixed signals about what this is
- As a result, they feel unable to comment on the unfairness of the situation or seek clarification
What is expressed emotions an primary explanation for?
relapse of Sz
Who proposed the double bind theory?
Bateson
What does the poor family climate lead to in terms of symptoms?
Leads to distrust which later develops into paranoid delusions (i.e. being persecuted by another person), ultimately Sz.
What happens when a child ‘get’s it wrong’ ? (double bind theory)
They are punished by the withdrawal of love
How does the child feel about the world according to the double bind theory after being punished?
leaves them with an understanding of the world as confusing and dangerous
What symptoms can be explained using the double bind theory?
Disorganised thinking and paranoid delusions
What are expressed emotions?
The level of emotion, particularly negative emotions, expressed towards a person with Sz.
What is the three expressed emotions?
- Verbal criticism
- Hostility
- emotional overinvolvement
A03 Supporting evidence for family dysfunction
- comes from evidence on those with childhood trauma
- indicators of family dysfunction include insecure attachment and exposure to childhood trauma
- Reed et al
- created review and found adults disproportionately likely to have insecure attachment, particularly type C or D
- also reported 69% women, 59% males have history of sexual/physical abuse
- Morkved et al adults with Sz have reported one childhood experience trauma, mostly abuse
- Show that there is evidence to support the theory
A03 Very little evidence base for any of the explanations
- No theories to support schizophrenogenic mother and double bind
- Both these theories are based on clinical observations of people with Sz and informal assessments of their mother’s personalities
- This is not rigorous systematic evidence
- means family explanations have no scientific evidence to account for the link between childhood trauma and Sz
- Difficult to establish how accurate family dysfunction is as an explanation
A03 Family-Sz link research is useful in showing attachment type and childhood trauma affect individual vulnerability to Sz
- this in turn has informed therapeutical practises such as family therapy
- On the other hand family dysfunction can be socially insensitive
- leads to parent blaming
- Overly psychic determinist view on Sz means that parents may feel at fault for their child’s development of Sz
- Psychological theory should not cause harm to people as the Sz mother/double bind theory have done
- We need to be careful when viewing Sz in a psychically determinist way
