Psychological explanations for schizophrenia
AO1 BRIEF: 1 marks AO3: 1-3 marks
Psychological explanations for schizophrenia focus on the There is supporting research evidence for family dysfunction
psychological
Aicoreenvironment and its role in making individuals being a risk factor of schizophrenia. For example, studies of
particularly vulnerable to schizophrenia, as well as child abuse and Schizophrenia concluded that 69% of women
emphasising the role of abnormal cognition in schizophrenics. and 59% of men diagnosed with schizophrenia had a history of
These explanations include family dysfunction and cognitive either physical or sexual abuse during their childhood. These
explanations. results emphasise the effects of childhood family dysfunctions
on the later development of schizophrenia, adding to the
AO1 EXPLAIN: 4 marks importance of parent-child relationships in leading and
maintaining a healthy future lifestyle. Therefore, these
Family dysfunction theories suggest that Schizophrenia is
research findings provide further support for the psychological
caused by growing up in a dysfunctional family environment.
explanations of schizophrenia, increasing the validity of the
Reichmann proposed a psychodynamic explanation for
psychological explanation.
schizophrenia based on childhood accounts from patients,
finding that most sufferers experienced a cold, rejecting and AO3: 4-6 marks
controlling parenting style known as the Schizophrenogenic
Mother. This creates a tense and secret family climate, leading However, although there is a large amount of supporting
to distrust in family relationships and development of evidence for family dysfunctions being associated with
paranoid delusions. The double bind theory agrees, also schizophrenia, there is a lack of support for both the
emphasising the role of communication style within a family Schizophrenogenic mother and double bind theory. These are
being a risk factor of Schizophrenia. The child constantly finds both based on clinical observation of patients and early
themselves in difficult situations, receiving contradictory evidence involved assessing the personality of mothers for
messages from their parent and never knowing right from ‘crazy-making characteristics’. Another limitation of the theory
wrong. Therefore, they see the world as confusing and is that it has led to parent blaming. Parents who already
dangerous, which is reflected in symptoms like disorganised suffered at seeing their child’s descent into schizophrenia not
thinking and paranoid delusions. High levels of expressed only had to bear lifelong responsibility for their care, but also
emotion has been suggested to be a source of stress, underwent further trauma by receiving blame for the
including verbal critism of the patient, hostility (anger and condition. This means that psychological explanations of
rejection) towards the patient and emotional over schizophrenia are too deterministic and unfairly put all of the
involvement in the patient’s life. A negative emotional climate blame on the parent; a significant weakness of the theory.
is therefore a factor of triggering the onset of Schizophrenia.
AO3: 7 marks
AO1 EXPLAIN: 6 marks A problem with cognitive explanations of schizophrenia is
that they only focus on one aspect of the disorder –
Cognitive explanations of Schizophrenia focus on the role of
dysfunctional thought processing. It fails to explain other
dysfunctional thought processing. During the formation of
factors which may play a role in the onset of schizophrenia,
delusions, the patient’s interpretations of their experiences
resulting in the explanation of schizophrenia being limited.
are controlled by inadequate thought processing, including
perceiving themselves as the central component in events and
Notes: AO3: 8-10 marks
jumping to false conclusions. Hallucinating individuals focus
excessive attention on auditory stimuli and find it hard to Despite this, there is strong supporting evidence for
distinguish between imagery and sensory based perception. dysfunctional information processing in the minds of
The Frith model identifies two kinds of dysfunctional thought schizophrenics. For example, a study compared
processing; metarepresentation and central control. schizophrenic patients to controls on a range of cognitive
Metarepresentation is the cognitive ability to reflect on tasks. The results discovered were in line with Frith’s theory
thoughts and behaviour, giving us an insight into our of central control dysfunction, as it was found that patients
intentions and goals, and disruption of this prevents it. Central took longer to carry out the tasks given compared to
control is the cognitive ability to suppress automatic controls. This research and the claim that symptoms of
responses whilst performing deliberate actions. An inability to schizophrenia have their origin in faulty cognition are
do this made lead to disorganised speech and thought reinforced by the success of cognitive based therapies. In
disorder in Schizophrenics. cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis, patients are
encouraged to evaluate the content of their delusions and
consider ways they might test the validity of their faulty
beliefs. The effectiveness of this approach was reviewed and
found to be the most effective method of reducing symptom
Word count: AO1: 345, AO3: 403, TOTAL: 748 severity and improving levels of social functioning.
AO1 BRIEF: 1 marks AO3: 1-3 marks
Psychological explanations for schizophrenia focus on the There is supporting research evidence for family dysfunction
psychological
Aicoreenvironment and its role in making individuals being a risk factor of schizophrenia. For example, studies of
particularly vulnerable to schizophrenia, as well as child abuse and Schizophrenia concluded that 69% of women
emphasising the role of abnormal cognition in schizophrenics. and 59% of men diagnosed with schizophrenia had a history of
These explanations include family dysfunction and cognitive either physical or sexual abuse during their childhood. These
explanations. results emphasise the effects of childhood family dysfunctions
on the later development of schizophrenia, adding to the
AO1 EXPLAIN: 4 marks importance of parent-child relationships in leading and
maintaining a healthy future lifestyle. Therefore, these
Family dysfunction theories suggest that Schizophrenia is
research findings provide further support for the psychological
caused by growing up in a dysfunctional family environment.
explanations of schizophrenia, increasing the validity of the
Reichmann proposed a psychodynamic explanation for
psychological explanation.
schizophrenia based on childhood accounts from patients,
finding that most sufferers experienced a cold, rejecting and AO3: 4-6 marks
controlling parenting style known as the Schizophrenogenic
Mother. This creates a tense and secret family climate, leading However, although there is a large amount of supporting
to distrust in family relationships and development of evidence for family dysfunctions being associated with
paranoid delusions. The double bind theory agrees, also schizophrenia, there is a lack of support for both the
emphasising the role of communication style within a family Schizophrenogenic mother and double bind theory. These are
being a risk factor of Schizophrenia. The child constantly finds both based on clinical observation of patients and early
themselves in difficult situations, receiving contradictory evidence involved assessing the personality of mothers for
messages from their parent and never knowing right from ‘crazy-making characteristics’. Another limitation of the theory
wrong. Therefore, they see the world as confusing and is that it has led to parent blaming. Parents who already
dangerous, which is reflected in symptoms like disorganised suffered at seeing their child’s descent into schizophrenia not
thinking and paranoid delusions. High levels of expressed only had to bear lifelong responsibility for their care, but also
emotion has been suggested to be a source of stress, underwent further trauma by receiving blame for the
including verbal critism of the patient, hostility (anger and condition. This means that psychological explanations of
rejection) towards the patient and emotional over schizophrenia are too deterministic and unfairly put all of the
involvement in the patient’s life. A negative emotional climate blame on the parent; a significant weakness of the theory.
is therefore a factor of triggering the onset of Schizophrenia.
AO3: 7 marks
AO1 EXPLAIN: 6 marks A problem with cognitive explanations of schizophrenia is
that they only focus on one aspect of the disorder –
Cognitive explanations of Schizophrenia focus on the role of
dysfunctional thought processing. It fails to explain other
dysfunctional thought processing. During the formation of
factors which may play a role in the onset of schizophrenia,
delusions, the patient’s interpretations of their experiences
resulting in the explanation of schizophrenia being limited.
are controlled by inadequate thought processing, including
perceiving themselves as the central component in events and
Notes: AO3: 8-10 marks
jumping to false conclusions. Hallucinating individuals focus
excessive attention on auditory stimuli and find it hard to Despite this, there is strong supporting evidence for
distinguish between imagery and sensory based perception. dysfunctional information processing in the minds of
The Frith model identifies two kinds of dysfunctional thought schizophrenics. For example, a study compared
processing; metarepresentation and central control. schizophrenic patients to controls on a range of cognitive
Metarepresentation is the cognitive ability to reflect on tasks. The results discovered were in line with Frith’s theory
thoughts and behaviour, giving us an insight into our of central control dysfunction, as it was found that patients
intentions and goals, and disruption of this prevents it. Central took longer to carry out the tasks given compared to
control is the cognitive ability to suppress automatic controls. This research and the claim that symptoms of
responses whilst performing deliberate actions. An inability to schizophrenia have their origin in faulty cognition are
do this made lead to disorganised speech and thought reinforced by the success of cognitive based therapies. In
disorder in Schizophrenics. cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis, patients are
encouraged to evaluate the content of their delusions and
consider ways they might test the validity of their faulty
beliefs. The effectiveness of this approach was reviewed and
found to be the most effective method of reducing symptom
Word count: AO1: 345, AO3: 403, TOTAL: 748 severity and improving levels of social functioning.
