Reconstructing Schizophrenia

Download or read book Reconstructing Schizophrenia written by Richard P. Bentall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: `The summaries of evidence have provided ready-made challenges to previously unquestioned medical options ... the book provides a challenging update on the nature of scientific inquiry.' - British Journal of Clinical Psychology Despite nearly one hundred years of research, very little progress has been achieved in the understanding of schizophrenic behaviour. There remains considerable uncertainty even about the fundamental features of the hypothesised illness. Reconstructing Schizophrenia subjects the difficult concept of schizophrenia to rigorous scientific, historical and sociological scrutiny. They ask why a biological defect has been assumed in the absence of hard evidence and look at what can be done psychologically to alleviate schizophrenic symptoms. Finally, they explore what new models and research strategies are required in order to understand schizophrenic behaviour. The result is a book that provides a distinctive and critical perspective on modern psychiatric theories and which demonstrates the severe limitations of an exclusively medical approach to understanding madness.