PSYCHODYNAMIC/SCHIZOPHRENOGENIC MOTHER AO3

• One weakness of the psychodynamic explanation is that it is outdated and unfalsifiable. Psychologists have become dissatisfied with this explanation as they have found difficulty in finding evidence to prove this hypothesis. Because of this, the psychodynamic approach is unreliable.
• To add on, this hypothesis has evolved, and it doesn’t prove the basic concept, such as id, ego, and superego. This is therefore a criticism of the theory, if we cannot demonstrate the existence of the basic concepts such as id, ego, and superego, how can we trust them to explain the existence of a complex disorder like schizophrenia?
• However, one supporting evidence for the psychodynamic explanation is that it highlights the role of childhood trauma into developing schizophrenia. The Freudian ideas have led to the development of established theories.
• For instance, this led to the emphasis on dysfunctional family dynamics and how this could cause relapses in schizophrenia patients. This therefore acknowledges that the psychodynamic theories related to schizophrenia have led to further research exploring the role of childhood experiences and family dynamics which has resulted in more developed theories which could explain why some patients experience relapse and schizophrenic symptoms.
• Firstly, a key issue with individual differences explanation is that it is difficult to establish cause and effect. It cannot be concluded that cognitive malfunctions or childhood trauma is causing schizophrenia, it can only be concluded that there is a variable between relationships. This makes it difficult to draw conclusions and implement strategies of support as there may be a range of other factors involved with the development of schizophrenia.
• Another issue with Individual differences explanations is that they are reductionist because they ignore the role of social factors when explaining schizophrenia. Epidemiologists (people who work in a branch of science that examines the prevalence of diseases) claim that a series of factors increase the risk of developing schizophrenia, including being migrant, being male, living in an urban environment, and being born poor. For example, Sareen et al (2011) found that lower level of household income significantly increased the likelihood of schizophrenia.
• A final issue regarding the cognitive and psychodynamic explanations is that they’re deterministic, this is because they assume people cannot manage or escape trauma or adjust ineffective cognitive processes. This makes the explanations invalid as not all individuals with schizophrenia have had traumatic childhoods or cognitive malfunctions, therefore the explanations cannot be used to diagnose schizophrenia as it isn’t applicable to all sufferers.