Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a number of symptoms including but not limited to: psychotic episodes, impaired social cognitive ability and varied levels of depression and withdrawal, can greatly impair. Therefore, it not only can cause a person to limit interaction with family and friends, but also significantly impacts social interaction with his or her peers, fellow workers, and/or people within general society. It is therefore understandable that people who experience schizophrenia often lack adaptation skills, suffer from cognitive deficits and also encounter the criminal justice system more frequently (BioMed central, 2010). However, several studies and hypotheses indicate a relationship between human development, family environment and relationships and the propensity for psychotic episodes and/or deficient levels of self-care and functionality within the social sphere of participation. Accordingly, this paper will examine schizophrenia, its definition and parameters, how child development influences its outcomes and how deficient socialization and cognitive abilities play key roles regarding outcomes.
According to the DSM-IV-TR criteria; a schizophrenia diagnosis requires the patient to have at least two of the following symptoms for at least a one month period these symptoms include, “Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonia or disorganized behavior and/or other negative symptoms including the blunting of affect,” (Kalapatupa and Dunn, 2010). Although the typical onset is between 12 and 25 years of age, childhood schizophrenia, though rare does exist.
While the debate regarding schizophrenia causation persists among disciplines, including but not limited to scientists, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, schizophrenia does induce neurological, physiological, psychological, social and emotional effects