SCHIZOPHRENIA

Journal Article Review on Schizophrenia

Journal Article Review on Schizophrenia

Title of the article

An ethnography of the "epidemic" of schizophrenia among individuals of African-Caribbean heritage in England

Abstract

The study examines how social inequalities, in combination with identified social risk factors, contribute to disparities in the incidence of schizophrenia among individuals of African-Caribbean descent in England. Epidemiological studies from Europe indicate that individuals of ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds have higher risks for developing schizophrenia (Diss, et al, 2011).

To explore this psychiatric epidemiological puzzle, the study focuses on the British case, which has the most comprehensive and reliable epidemiological data available. Epidemiological data, spanning over the last two decades, have shown that British African-Caribbeans experience rates of schizophrenia much greater than both the general British population and African-Caribbeans living in the Anglo-Caribbean. These findings raised significant concerns about the long-term social and public health impacts of this mental health crisis on the community. They challenge basic tenets about schizophrenia that suggest the distribution of the illness is uniform across countries and ethnic groups. They also represent the most compelling evidence indicating the role of sociocultural factors in the aetiology of schizophrenia, which is commonly understood as an illness with significant genetic vulnerability (Diss, et al, 2011).

While epidemiological studies are extremely useful in informing us of risk factors, variable incidence and outcome rates of schizophrenia, they are limited in their explanatory capacity and ability to explore complex social phenomena. The study seeks to fill in this gap. It is an anthropological investigation of the lived experiences of British African-Caribbeans, with and without a diagnosis of schizophrenia to illuminate the sociocultural mechanisms and processes that may contribute to their high prevalence of the illness. It provides a microanalysis of the various identified social risk factors to understand how they operate at the immediate level, in everyday life, to influence increased risks of schizophrenia in this population (Diss, et al, 2011).

Summary

Theoretical Framework

The authors of this study draw from an interdisciplinary perspective that integrates theoretical frameworks from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, immigration theories, and psychological anthropology (Diss, et al, 2011). Each chapter emphasizes and elaborates on specific theoretical perspectives. However, three main bodies of research frame the overarching theoretical framework of the study.

First, the stress-diathesis model which emphasizes the interactive effects of biological factors and negative stressful life events in the onset of schizophrenia (Rosenthal 1970; Walker, Diforio, and Logan 1997).

Second, the tradition of psychological anthropology, which attempts to unravel the psychological consequences of interpersonal relationships, power dynamics, historical, and sociocultural forces.

Third, the dissertation builds on scholarship in the field of culture, emotion, and the self, which views emotions not only as physiological and cognitive experiences, but also as motivational forces, dialectically constituted and reflected within a wide sphere of sociopolitical contexts (Rosaldo 1984; Lutz, 1988; White 2005).

Participants, Methods, and Analyses

This is an ethnographic study based on twenty four months of fieldwork, from 2006 to 2008, in a North London African-Caribbean community, Tottenham. The findings presented in this study draw from ethnographic fieldwork ...