Goal: To write an ethnography of families groups dealing with a schizophrenic member, in order to more deeply understand the physical, psychological, and social repercussions of schizophrenia and other serious mental illness in families.

Possible Themes:
1 Context, causality, genetics, and brain function (short overview).
2 The medical system, it’s interaction with families and senses of alienation – from a disability to a death sentence.
3 Family abuse and mental illness – the abuse of the mentally ill person (both to them and from them), the cycle of violence and abuse through mental illness (increased traits of prior abuse done to the mentally ill person).
4 Lack of information, interaction with stigma; shame, perceptions of weakness, and personal illness due to an ill family member
5 The intrinsic role of the family in diagnosis and care.
6 Family denial and a torn family structure
7 Issues of responsibility, anger, and personal healing in those dealing with the ill person
8 Long-term psychological fallout of having an ill family member, personal relationships and dysfunctions
9 How, when, and where to turn for help – the eternal question
10 Agency of the mentally ill person and lack of influence of families, questions of power and information privacy
11 Legal needs, long-term care
12 Loss and sorrow, a “death in the family” what this looks like and feels like as recovery occurs (or does not occur).