evaluating the approach

• A strength of the biological approach has provided many successful applications.
• Research into the relationship between abnormal levels of neurotransmitters & mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia and anxiety has lead to the development of drug therapies
• For example, Kahn et al (1986) followed 250 OCD patients over 8 weeks and found BZs were superior to placebos
• This is a strength as drug therapies have been used to successfully reduce symptoms of mental health disorders to improve people’s quality of life
• One weakness of the biological approach is that it is reductionist
• This is because it reduces complex behaviours to a set of simple explanations.
• For example, the experience of depression is reduced to the action of the neurotransmitter serotonin.
• This is a limitation as it means we may overlook important factors that contribute to behaviour e.g. the experience of distress. This means that biological explanations do not offer a complete explanation of behaviour.
• A strength of the biological approach is that it is scientific
• Biological explanations have clear variables which can be controlled and measured so that scientific & testable research can be carried out.
• For example Raine et al (1997) used PET scans to compare murderer’s brains (pleading NGRI) with non-murderers and was able to conclude causal relationships between brain activity and violent behaviour
• This is a strength as an objective method of data collection and makes biological explanations reliable and objective
• A weakness is that the biological approach only focuses on nature
• This means that the approach only looks at innate influences on behaviour
• For example this approach explains depression in terms of abnormal levels of serotonin in the body but doesn’t take into account how environmental or social factors that could be underlying reason for the illness (death of a spouse / childhood abuse).
• this is a weakness as this approach just focuses on internal biological factors without considering individual’s personal experiences or circumstances