Family Interaction Studies and the Etiology of Schizophrenia

W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1973 Family Interaction Studies and the Etiology of Schizophrenia Kenneth Eugene Kirby College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons, and the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons Recommended Citation Kirby, Kenneth Eugene, "Family Interaction Studies and the Etiology of Schizophrenia" (1973). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539624840. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-v2md-pj39 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FAMILY INTERACTION STUDIES AND d THE ETIOLOGY OF SCHIZOPHRENIA A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Sociology The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts hy Kenneth E. Kirby APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author /lAjur^ §71870 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................ ............... iv ABSTRACT. ........... .......... v INTRODUCTION........................ 2 CHAPTER I. "MEDICAL MODEL" APPROACHES TO THE ETIOLOGY OF SCHIZOPHRENIA............. 10 The Genetic Approach The Biochemical Approach The Physiological Approach The Psychological Approach A Summary Statement CHAPTER II. A CRITIQUE OF THE THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS OF FAMILY INTERACTION STUDIES . ............. 33 CHAPTER III. MAJOR METHODOLOGICAL WEAKNESSES OF FAMILY INTER ACTION STUDIES................ 1+]+ Part Is Methodological Weaknesses of an Espe cially Sociological Nature Part 2: General Methodological Weaknesses of Family Interaction Studies CHAPTER IY. A SUMMARY AND CRITIQUE OF FAMILY INTERACTION STUDIES: I93U-I963................ 90 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS............. I73 APPENDIX.................. 185 REFERENCES.......... 188 YITA............................................. 227 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This writer wishes to express his appreciation to Professor R. Wayne Kemodle, under whose guidance this investigation was con ducted, for his patient guidance and thoughtful criticism throughout the investigation. The author is also appreciative of the encourage ment and criticism offered by Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Sociology, Lawrence S. Beckhouse, and Professor Marion G. Vanfossen. A final note of appreciation must also be extended to Mrs. Betsy Smith, former director of the Inter-Library Loan Service of the College of William and Mary for her most gracious assistance in securing materials for review, to Mrs. Linda Leonard for her speedy and efficient typing of this manuscript, and to Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Sociology, Christopher Newport Col lege, Mrs. Ruth Kemodle, for her constant encouragement and interest. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to evaluate the theoretical and methodological adequacy of family interaction studies conducted con cerning the etiology of schizophrenia which were published in English from 193b through 1969* "Medical model" approaches to discovering the etiology of schizophrenia are also described and critiqued. The incon clusive findings and theoretical and methodological inadequacies of the "medical model" approaches are described in an effort to support the author’s contention that a more sociological approach such as family interaction investigations may have great etiological potential. The careful review and analysis of those family interaction studies published from 193^4- through 19^9 have revealed that the great majority of these studies are based upon tenuous theoretical assump tions and are methodologically inadequate according to the various criteria of methodological adequacy which-are accepted by most social scientists. The nature of these theoretical and methodological weaknesses are described in a detailed manner. A summary and critique of each of the studies published from 193^-J- through 1969 is presented in order to document and clearly illustrate the weaknesses described. The final chapter offers suggestions concerning: (l) needed improvements in the "typical" family interaction research design; (2 ) new directions in research which would complement the typical family interaction research approach; and (3 ) new types of research designs which should be utilized by family interaction researchers. v FAMILY INTERACTION STUDIES AND THE ETIOLOGY OF SCHIZOPHRENIA INTRODUCTION Even until the present, the cause or causes of what is termed schizophrenia have not been conclusively isolated. With the exception of the past two decades, etiological studies have been primarily conducted by geneticists, b i ochemists, and physiologi cally oriented psychiatrists and psychologists. These research efforts have been conducted within what Scheff (1966) has termed the "medical model” perspective. This perspective is based on the assump tion that the primary cause of schizophrenia originates from within the individual. For example, psychiatrists have attempted to resolve various libidinal conflicts within the individual's psyche while other researchers have worked to isolate a "gene" specific for schizophrenia or some chemical imbalance within the disordered "organism." Efforts such as these usually give little attention to extra-individual factors such as one's social experiences in various types of social environments — past and present. During the past four decades many research efforts concerning the etiology of schizophrenia have moved away from the somewhat nar row medical model approach and have adopted a more sociological per spective. These efforts, often termed social-psychological in that the impact of the social situation upon the personality of the sub ject is analyzed, have manifested themselves in the form of what are generally termed "family interaction studies." 2 3 Family interaction studies are usually one of two types* One approach is to gather information concerning attitudinal and behav ioral characteristics of the parents (often called "trait" studies) and determine how such factors have influenced the personality develop ment of the schizophrenic offspring during parent-child interaction* The second approach is to analyze the family as a small group charac terized by certain interaction sequences which have consequences for the mental well-being of each family member. Generally, family interaction studies attempt to associate the incidence of schizophrenia with certain interpersonal and inter actional characteristics of the subject's immediate family. This paper is concerned with these family interaction studies. It is the thesis of this paper that the great majority of family interaction studies published through 1969 are based on a tenuous theoretical foundation and are methodologically inadequate according to the methodological standards held by most sociologists^ and scientists in general. These studies generally have not fulfilled ^■These methodoligical standards are delineated in any widely accepted sociological text concerning methodology such as Bonjean et al. (1967), Blalock and Blalock (1968), Campbell and Stanley (1963)* Lazarsfeld and Bosenberg (1955)* Miller (1961;), and Sjoberg and Nett (1968). Standard methodological criteria for an adequate scientific endeavor of this nature include, for example, these items: (l) con struction of control groups well watched concerning major demographic and sociological variables; (2) clear description of the demographic and sociological characteristics (e.g. age, sex, socioeconomic level, occupation, religion, ethnic identity, place of residence, and level of educational achievement) of the subjects under study; (3 ) use of reliable and valid data gathering instruments and techniques; (U) clear description of the data analysis procedures; (5) the absence of selective factors which may bias the construction of the study and control groups; (6) absence of experimenter bias and non-objectivity In the research procedures; and (7 ) clear admission by the researchers of basic weaknesses in their research design and procedures. the expectations of many researchers in that they, like other approaches to this problem, have not as of yet been able to isolate the etiological factor or factors associated with the incidence of schizophrenia. This thesis is the result of a careful reading and analysis of 138 purported family interaction studies dealing with adult or late adolescent schizophrenics which were published from 193^1 through 1969* (See Appendix A for a complete listing of these studies.) Note the use of the word "purported” here. This writer gathered references of what various researchers termed "family inter action studies." This was accomplished by analysis of literature reviews; bibliographic guides and listings; journal articles, indices, and abstracts; and dissertation articles, indices, and abstracts. Upon examination of these "studies," however, it was discovered that 15 of these articles were not really studies at all — but were theo retical presentations instead. These fallaciously termed "studies" are included in the cited figure of the 138 articles reviewed in the

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