Parents of Schizophrenics, Neurotics, and Normals

Introduction and Purpose Theories concerning the etiology of schizophrenia which emphasize the importance of past socialization experiences usually assign a high degree of direct or indirect significance to parental behavior. That is, most theories which link schizophrenia with the pattern of the patient’s upbringing usually assume that the pattern reflects how his parents dealt with him. It is presumed that the schizophrenic is somehow a product of disturbed and pathological behavior on the part of his parents. Basic to this viewpoint is the idea that parents of schizophrenics are more disorganized and less well adjusted than parents of normals and therefore more likely to expose their children to pathology-producing experiences. Despite the importance of this proposition to the functional approach to schizophrenia, it has not been carefully investigated. One does find studies in the literature7-10,12,13concerned with evaluating the validity of the proposition. However, most