schizophrenia - social: sociocultural

Question 1

reliability

Answer 1

P:One weakness of the dysfunctional family explanation is its low reliability, as schizophrenia rates are consistent across cultures, despite differences in urbanisation and sociocultural factors
E: Sartorius et al. (1986) found that the prevalence of schizophrenia was relatively uniform across diverse cultural settings. If schizophrenia were strongly linked to factors like urbanicity, we would expect to see higher rates in Western, individualistic societies, but this is not the case.
T: This challenges the reliability of the explanation, as the global distribution of schizophrenia does not align with the prediction that urban environments contributors to the disorder
C: However, sociocultural factors like urbanicity could still influence the expression, severity, or onset of the disorder. Therefore Sartorius et al. (1986) may not account for nuanced differences in diagnostic practices or reporting across cultures.

Question 2

reductionist

Answer 2

P: One strength of the explanation is that it takes a reductionist approach, allowing us to understand complex behaviours (like schizophrenia) in a simple way that we can then isolate components from and test them to verify causal relationships
E: This shows true for ethnicity and discrimination in Afro-Caribbean populations leading to higher incidences of SZ because of research by Lewis (1990) which found that if patients were described as black, it lead to higher admissions to psychiatric hospitals based on the skin colour of the patient, showing discrimination as a main factor (excluding the possibility of genetic factors)
T: Therefore this is a strength as we are able to establish causal relationships by researching these certain aspects in high amounts of depth and detail, that just wouldn’t be applicable if we tried to measure a multitude of factors all at once. Therefore increasing the validity of the explanation
C: However, research by Howes and Kapur (2009) suggests that environmental stressors, like discrimination, can trigger dopamine dysregulation in vulnerable individuals. Thus, focusing solely on sociocultural aspects risks ignoring how these factors interplay with neurobiological processes, ultimately leading to an incomplete understanding of the disorder.

Question 3

applicability

Answer 3

P: A weakness to the sociocultural explanation is the poor application to treatments, such as befriending groups. Befreinding groups are done in a controlled setting and is used to combat social isolation in SZs as a from of treatment. However, how do we know who will be SZ and treat them if it only starts developing at 4-6 years old?
E: A study by Dixon et al. (2001) highlights that befriending groups, designed to combat social isolation in schizophrenia, often fail to effectively address the disorder since it typically begins developing in early childhood, long before intervention can occur.
T: This limitation suggests that because the explanation is unable to provide timely and preventative treatment it therefore decreases the credibility and reliability of the explanation (due to its ineffectiveness)
C: However, although it’s application won’t be able to prevent the onset of SZ, it does provide significant value in helping to manage the disorder and improve their quality of life by mitigating the effects of social isolation and promoting positive social connections