Psychological Explanations

• Double bind theory


  • Bateson et al (1956) proposed the double bind explanation for schizophrenia. According to this explanation, children who get conflicting messages from their parents are more likely to develop schizophrenia e.g. a mother who loves her child but has trouble expressing it may exhibit contradictory behaviours.

  
  

  • Constant exposure to these mixed messages means the child is unable to form a coherent picture of reality. This leads to disorganised thinking which in extreme cases can manifest as symptoms of schizophrenia such as delusions and hallucinations
• Expressed emotion


  • Another familial explanation is that an environment with a high degree of expressed emotion - particularly negative e.g. criticism and hostility - causes stress, increasing risk of schizophrenia
• AO3-supporting evidence

  For example, Tienari et al (2004) found that adoptees raised in families rated as dysfunctional had much higher rates of schizophrenia compared to adoptees raised in families rated as healthy
• AO3-other factors

  not everyone with schizophrenia was raised in a dysfunctional family and not everyone raised in a dysfunctional family goes on to develop schizophrenia. This suggests that other factors (e.g genetics) are needed
• AO3-selection bias

  - Bateson et al's double bind explanation is based on a handful of case studies and interviews. But some critics argue that researchers focused on examples that support the explanation while ignoring ones that contradict it.