Submitted by: Submitted by mccarthyamchb
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Category: Philosophy and Psychology
Date Submitted: 01/06/2016 10:04 AM
Outline and evaluate one or more psychological explanation of schizophrenia (24 marks)
The psychodynamic approach suggests that schizophrenia is caused by the disintegration of the ego. The ego maintains a balance between the superego (the moral part of the psyche) and the Id (biological drives such as eating and aggression).
According the Freud, schizophrenia develops from issues in childhood. If a child has an abnormal upbringing, especially if they have a cold, schizogenic mother, their ego can become fragile. If the ego is then not functioning properly, the Id ends up in control of an individuals psyche meaning the person cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy, therefore leading to the development of schizophrenia. The individuals regresses to a primary narcissism where they focus on just themselves.
An alternative interpretation to this is the schizophrenogenic mother by Fromm-Reichmann (1948). He identified that the schizophrenogenic mother induced psychosis and alienated the child. The mother’s behaviour was described as as ‘rejecting and impervious to the feelings of others, rigid moralism concerning sex and the fear of intimacy.
There can be no empirical evidence for these studies. This means that there is a lack of research evidence to validate the study and prove it to be true. This is because there is no way of scientifically measuring the Id, ego and superego, this therefore makes the theory invalid and simply speculative. It also lacks temporal validity. This is due to the studies being done in the Victorian era, meaning they may not be able to be generalised to recent eras because society’s norms have changed and things such as homosexuality were seen to be a form of mental illness. These studies also cannot indicate cause and effect. Correlational data can only prove a link between the two and not definitely say that this approach is the main reason for the development of schizophrenia.
The psychodynamic approach is deterministic,...