M.A. (Psychology) / Communication patterns were studied in four families, each possessing an identified schizophrenic member'. Traditional and current concepts about schizophrenia and various theories about communication were reviewed. Adistinction was made between healthy and pathological communication. The family as a communicational unit was discussed in the light of general systems theory. An extensive survey of family studies of schizophrenia was undertaken. From this review of research three general questions emerged on which the hypotheses of this study are founded. The questions are: (a) To what extent is pathological communication found in families with an identified schizophrenic member? (b) To what extent is the absence of healthy communication found in these families? (c) What indications can be found that the combination of different communication patterns is unique for each of these families? In this thesis healthy communication is defined as the presence of adequate levels of empathy, warmth and congruence among the family members. These levels were measured on three rating scales measuring empathy, warmth and congruence respectively. Pathological communication is delineated here as the effort to avoid the definition of relationships, coupled with enmeshment between family members and the unclear definition of power relations in the family. This communication was measured by a process analysis of the family's interaction. The results of the measurements of healthy and pathological communication were taken together to assess whether different combinations of communication patterns could be found when the families were compared with each other...
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:3945 |
| Date | 13 February 2014 |
| Creators | Swartz, J.F. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds