Psych exp : fam dysfunction

• What’s family dysfunction?

  Abnormal processes within a family such as poor communication,cold parenting and high levels expressed emotion,which can be risk factors for onset and/or maintenance for sz
• Schizophrenogenic mother 

  -Frieda Fromm-reichmann proposed a psychodynamic explanations based on accounts she had heard from her patients about their childhood

  -cold,rejecting and controlling 

  -family climate marked by tension and secrecy 

  -leads to distrust and later paranoid delusions 
• Double bind hypothesis (Bateson et al 1972)

  -Is a dilemma in communication where an individual receives 2 or more conflicting messages with one negating the other 

  -children who recieve contradictory messages from the parents are more likely to develop sz

  -for example saying I love you but turning away in disgust which gives two contradictory messages which is animosity and affection 
• Double bind hypothesis (2)

  -trapped in situations where they fear doing the wrong thing,recieve mixed messages about what it is and can’t seek clarification.

  -getting it wrong results in the withdrawal of love which creates an understanding of the world as dangerous and confusing
• Expressed emotion 

  Level of negative emotion expressed towards the patient by the carer 

  -verbal criticism including violence 

  -hostility,anger,rejection 

  -emotion over involvement 

  -serious source of stress which can trigger a sz episode in someone who is vulnerable (e.g genes) or can lead to relapse 
• Pone strength of family dysfunction is it highlights the importance by considering how social and environmental factors may contribute to the onset of the condition.the theory has contributed to an interactionist approach to explaining the cause of the disorder which adopts a more holistic approach to highlighting the complexity of the onset of symptoms and providing an explanation for high relapse rates.
• s+e paragraph

  Theory and research also has useful application as it confirms that peoples friends and families can be very important in helping their loved ones recover and has informed methods of family therapy which has been found to be successful in preventing relapse. People whose home atmosphere is supportive, calm and tolerant tend to do better.Therefore,demonstrates the theories value and the useful contributions the explanation has made to our understanding and explanation of SZ
• One limitation is the poor evidence base for any of the exp.There is almost no evidence to the support the importance of traditional family-based theories e.g schizophrenogenic mother and double bind.Both theories are based on clinical observation of patients and informal assessment of the personality of the mothers and patients.This means the families haven’t been able to explain the link between childhood trauma and SZ.
• one negative of the family dysfunction explanation is that it may have negative implications because it can be interpreted as blaming the parents of sufferer's for their child's development of the disorder.E theory suggests the cause of SZ is the families maladaptive communication and the home environment.
• Negative implications (2)

   As a result of this explanation parents of sufferers may then feel responsible for their child's illness.Furthermore, responsibility being placed on parents for their child's illness can cause even greater levels of stress and anxiety in the family which may in turn then trigger off or exacerbate the illness.L Therefore, the Disadvantage of adopting this explanation therefore is its potential negative implications and furthermore the social sensitivity the theory may mean that the theory is not widely researched or accepted by society