Social Causation

• social stressors

  poverty, urban living, discrimination & social isolation)

  Overwhelm coping mechanism & trigger psychotic symptoms.
• Socioeconomic deprivation

  poverty associates with chronic stress, lack of access to healthcare & poor housing which trigger SZ.
• Socioeconomic: Faris & Dunhem


  SZ high in deprived inner-city areas of Chicago suggesting a link between poverty & SZ.
• Fard & Dunhem negative?

  correlational so there is no clear cause & effect, it is assumption based and cannot be proven as accurately true, there may be other factors like genetic predisposition.
• Urban living

  Vassos.

  overcrowding, social fragmentation, pollution & crime.
• Vassos: urban living

  meta analysis and concluded risk of SZ is 2.37 times higher in cities.
• alternative to urban living

  brings diverse populations which may confound causality, questions if there's hidden contributions such as discrimination.
• discrimination

  minority groups at risk due to social exclusions & discrimination.

  Boydell.

  Discrimination produces a lack of social identity, especially in second-generation immigrants as they experience identity conflict leading to chronic stress.
• Boydell: Discrimination

  higher SZ risk in ethnic minorities, especially in regions of small cultural representation where prejudice may be increased.
• Social Drift Hypothesis

  reverse causality.

  individuals drift down social hierarchy due to symptoms rather than low status causing SZ.

  negative symptoms = job loss & social decline.
• Prevalence: social drift hypothesis

  high prevelance ratings of SZ in poor areas reflect poverty as an outcome of SZ, not the origin, weaking claim of social causation
• Reductionist

  Ignores biological factors
• Deterministic

  Argues that anyone from deprived areas will develop SZ, creating stigmatisation.