negatives

• ignores the role of environment, family, childhood experiences and social situations
• biological explanations are deterministic as they suggest that behaviour is predetermined by genetics or brain chemistry.
• it assumes that all people with the same condition will have similar symptoms which isn't true because there can be different causes of the same disorder.
• the biological approach ignores the impact of culture on mental health issues such as depression which can be influenced by cultural factors.
• it assumes that all individuals will respond to drugs in the same way but this isn't true because some people may have an adverse reaction to medication.
• there is no clear distinction between nature (genes) and nurture (environment).
• some argue that it is too reductionist - focusing on one aspect of human experience to explain complex behaviours.
• ignores the role of free will
• using biology to explain negative behaviour can be seen as excusing people and abstaining people of responsibility
• Gottesman

  • identical twins are also raised in the same environment so may not be genes alone
  • only 48% concodrance rate- doesnt explain the 52%
• Heston

  • used interview data which may be affected by social desirablity bias
  • cant rule out the children with mothers who dont have SZ developing SZ later on
• Maguire

  • small simple size, lacks generalisability
  • only used males