psych explanation for schiz - family dysfunction

• Schizophrenia is caused by living in a family where there is a lot of conflict, criticism and control.

  This can involve double-bind communication whereby the schizophrenic patient received contradictory messages from parents. This can result in the disorganised thinking and paranoia often seen in the positive symptom of delusions.
• Schizophrenia can also be caused by a schizophrenogenic mother who is cold, controlling and rejecting. Meanwhile, the father is often passive.

  This can result in tension and secrecy that later develops into paranoid delusions. Finally, high expressed emotion (overly critical and involved/concerned) can contribute to schizophrenia as it causes distress that increases the risk of relapse.
• strength of the family dysfunction explanation- received supporting evidence

  most people diagnosed with schiz report having a history of abuse in their childhood. This is likely to be accompanied by double-bind communication whereby during sexual abuse the child may have received affectionate comments but the opposite behaviour. adults identified as having had an insecure-resistant attachment (caused by conflicting messages) are found to be more likely to develop schiz. strength because it supports a link between negative family experiences and the development of schiz. adds credibility.
• limitation of the family dysfunction explanation is that it has received contradictory evidence.

   This is because not everyone living in a dysfunctional family goes on to develop schizophrenia. This is a limitation because it suggests that alternative theories such as the diathesis-stress model may be more appropriate. I.e. family dysfunction (the stressor) will only trigger schizophrenia in individuals who already have a vulnerability to developing the disorder (e.g. a genetic vulnerability). Therefore questions credibility.
•  limitation of the family dysfunction explanation is that it is difficult to establish cause and effect.

  This is because family dysfunction may be the result of the patient’s symptoms rather than the cause. I.e. a relative having schizophrenia can create stress in the family that leads to a critical, controlling environment. This is a limitation because it would mean that any treatment developed out of this explanation may not address the root cause. Therefore questions credibility.
• strength of the family dysfunction explanation is that it has led to treatments for schizophrenia.

  it led to family therapy that aims to reduce the conflicting, criticising and controlling family environment. This is a strength because family therapy has been shown to reduce symptoms and relapse rates and, if the treatment developed out of the explanation is effective, the family dysfunction explanation itself must have merit. Therefore adds credibility.