family dysfunction

• maladaptive relationships and patterns of communication within families as sources of stress, which can cause or influence development of schizophrenia

  parents of schizophrenics often display these types of dysfunctional characteristics:

  -high levels of interpersonal conflict

  -difficulty communicating with each other

  -being excessively critical and controlling of their children
• 1.double binds part 1 BATESON et al


  double bind explains contradictory situations children could be placed in by parents, where a verbal message is given but opposite behaviour is exhibited- eg if a mother tells her son she loves him, yet at the same time turns her head away in disgust, the child receives two conflicting messages about their relationship.  Therefore, the child’s ability to respond to the mother is powerless by such contradictions because one message invalidates the other.
• 1.double binds part 2 


  child finds themselves trapped in situations where they fear doing the wrong thing, but receive mixed messages about what this is, and feel unable to comment on the unfairness of situation. When they “get it wrong” (often) the child is punished by withdrawal of love. This leaves them feeling that world is confusing+dangerous,reflected in symptoms like disorganised thinking+ paranoid delusions.Double-bind behaviour from parent can lead to negative reaction of social withdrawal and flat affect (lack of emotional expression) in order to escape double bind situations.
• 2.expressed emotion 


  refers to expressing NEGATIVE emotions only, families that express in a critical or hostile manner, often accompanied by violence, or in a way that indicates emotional over-involvement or over-concern with the patient.

  Families who persistently show criticism and hostility give a negative influence, especially upon recovering schizophrenics, who when returning to their families react to expressed emotion by relapsing to an ‘active phase’ of the disorder and experience severe positive symptoms of hallucinations and delusions of persecution.
• AO3 study support- berger


  found schz patients could recall more experiences involving double blinds than non schizophrenics,
• AO3 study support expressed emotion- vaughn and leff


  studies family relationships within a schizophrenics family, categorised findings between high and low degrees of expressed emotions and found after recovery and leaving of hospital, schz with high expressed emotion within their family were more likely to relapse