Strengths and Weaknesses of the Biological Model and Environmental Model in Determining the Etiology of Schizophrenia

Developmental theories embody perspectives about environmental forces and human essence that build a path of human development. Developmental psychopathology theories embody these perspectives as well, and the information from ‘normal’ and ‘pathological’ human life courses enlighten current models of development (Davies & Bhugra, 2004). Thus, for instance, the healthy child and the biological model both agree that certain predetermined behavioural pattern may be impervious to environmental forces. Similarly, knowledge about relapse to previous patterns of behaviour necessitates the re-evaluation of the idea that every process of development is a change and; that every previous pattern of behaviour is transformed into entirely new one (Haugaard, 2008). Undoubtedly, developmental models should be relevant to both normal and pathological development. This essay discusses two models of developmental psychopathology, namely, the (1) biological model and the (2) environmental model to critically evaluate how they are able to account for the etiology of schizophrenia. These two models, which are antecedents of the different developmental perspectives, explain how these perspectives differ and how they can be applied to gain better knowledge of the etiology of psychopathology. It is crucial to regard them in this way so as to identify their weaknesses and strengths.
Biological Model and Schizophrenia Numerous scholars adopt several variants of the stress-vulnerability model of schizophrenia, and one of the most widely used is the biological model of psychopathology. The biological model uses the concept of ‘diathesis’ to explain vulnerability to pathologies. A ‘diathesis’, in particular, is usually viewed as a “biological predisposition to develop a disease or morbid condition” (Shean, 2004, 79). The biological model largely claims that risk for schizophrenia is a polygenetic imperfection that is outside the boundaries of healthy discrepancy. In addition, it is

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