Phenomenology of the subjective experience of schizophrenia and its cultural conditionality

Abstract

The primary aim of the thesis is a first step towards the phenomenology of the psychotic experience accompanying schizophrenia across different cultures. The research proposal presented in this thesis has not yet been carried out, and the design of its future implementation consists of two complementary methods. The first, quantitative method will be the Questionnaire for Psychotic Experiences, which will firstly detect and assess the presence, severity and basic phenomenality of hallucinations and delusions. This method will be followed up by a second, qualitative analysis consisting of semi-structured interviews enabling a more detailed, in-depth exploration of specific phenomena of the experience, where cultural patterns might be detected. For the means, Interpretative phenomenological analysis has been suggested. The most accurate description of the approach chosen throughout both methods of the research is heterophenomenological, given that the individuals' beliefs about their experience is what will be of interest primarily. The theoretical framework underpinning the research proposal, from which the literary-overview part consists of, is based primarily on selected computational, information-processing theories focusing on consciousness, and interpretive- anthropological theories with their...