family dysfunction

• What is the schizophrenogenic mother like?

  Cold, rejecting, controlling behavior triggering schizophrenia.
• What is the family climate like a schizophrenogenic mother?


  Characterised by tension and secrecy.
• What is the double-bind?

  Mixed and contradictory messages from family causing confusion.
• What happens as a result of the double-bind?

  Unable to develop an internally coherent construction of reality
• What is expressed emotion?

  Critical, hostile, and emotionally over-involved communication style.
• What is expressed emotion an explanation of?

  How the symptoms can be exacerbated or maintained
• What does expressed emotion create?

  A negative climate for the sufferer, and creates a great amount of stress
• What has expressed emotion been linked to?

  High relapse rates (Linszen et al., 1997)
• Who conducted supporting evidence for the family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia?

  Read et al (2005)
• What did Read et al (2005) do?

  Reviewed 46 studies of child abuse and schizophrenia
• What did Read et al (2005) find?

  69% of adult women in-patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia had a history of physical abuse, sexual abuse or both in childhood. For men, the figure was 59%
• What are real life applications of the family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia?

  Family therapy has developed as a result of studies of the family environment
• What is the main aim of family therapy?

  To provide support for carers in an attempt to make family life less stressful and so reduce rehospitalisation. ​
• What is a weakness of the family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia?

  Alternative Explanation​: Biological
• Why is the evidence for the biological explanation strong?

  Research supporting the biological approach are scientific as they are objective and based on empirical data.​
• However, what may be an even better explanation than biological or family dysfunction?​

  An interactionist approach to explaining schizophrenia may be the most valid