Family Dysfunction

• What is the Family Dysfunction Explanation?

  Symptoms of schizophrenia are caused by the childhood and adult experiences of living in a dysfunctional family
• What are the 3 aspects of the family dysfunction explanation?

  • Schizophrenogenic Mother
  • Expressed Emotion
  • Double-bind Theory
• What is the Schizophrenogenic Mother theory?

  • Proposed by Reichmann
  • The schizophrenogenic mother is cold, rejecting, and controlling
  • The father in theses families is usually passive
  • This creates an atmosphere of distrust in the family
• What is the Expressed Emotion theory?

  People with Sz have high levels of negative expressed emotion, characterised by:

  • Criticism
  • Hostility, including anger and rejection
  • Emotional over-involvement, including needless self-sacrifice

  High levels of negative expressed emotion causes stress which may trigger an already existing vulnerability to Sz
• What is the Double-bind theory?

  • Sz is caused by mixed messages from parents that express care but at the same time are critical
  • Double bind behaviour can also include a contradiction between a person's verbal and non-verbal behaviour
  • This causes the child to develop an incoherent version of reality, which leads to schizophrenic symptoms such as delusions, social withdrawal and affective flattening
• Strength of Family Dysfunction explanation - Supporting Evidence:

  • Reed - 69% of female Sz patients and 59% of male patients reported a history of abuse in childhood
  • Berry - Adults with Sz are more likely to report an insecure attachment to their childhood primary caregiver

  COUNTERPOINT:

  • Self report = Poor Validity
  • As they can't remember it correctly or the Sz makes them not understand reality
• Limitation of Family Dysfunction - Ethical Implications

  • Research is Socially Sensitive - Parents are viewed as being at fault
  • Leads to prejudice and stereotypes
• Strength of Family Dysfunction - Therapy

  • The family dysfunction theory has led to the creation of different therapies such as family therapy
  • Aimed at fixing expressed emotion