The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.
As the international community shrinks into a global village, cultures mix, meld, and blur, presenting psychiatric professionals with new challenges: a growing number of patients of different nationalities, ethnicities, and backgrounds. These sociocultural identities, so integral to personality, must be recognized and taken into account when diagnosing and treating mental illness. This is the premise behind transcultural psychiatry. On the leading edge of an emerging discipline, this compendium by respected clinicians from around the world is one of the first books to offer an in-depth look at transcultural psychiatry. Concise yet comprehensive, Clinical Methods in Transcultural Psychiatry draws on a wealth of case studies and relevant clinical experience to provide practicing clinicians with a basic foundation of "culturally informed" psychiatry on which they can build. Logically organized into six sections, the book begins with an overview of transcultural psychiatry and then moves to the important topic of cultural psychiatry and mental health services. Treatment approaches are addressed next, followed by highlights of recent research; special topics, such as how religious and supernatural beliefs affect behavior; and discussions and recommendations on education and training in transcultural psychiatry. The final section emphasizes families in cultural transition, focusing on the needs of women and children. Although transcultural psychiatry has never been more relevant than today, most psychiatric textbooks only briefly address it. This fascinating work -- covering everything from the impact of magic and religion in Italy to class, culture, and religion in London's inner city -- familiarizes readers with the principles and practices of transcultural psychiatry, focusing on the significance of cultural factors in the causes and meanings behind the pain and suffering -- as well as the healing -- of mental illness.
In the 1980s, transcultural psychiatry was a developing field which was commanding increasing attention for three major reasons. First, many societies were becoming more and more multicultural, and therefore professional health workers needed to be aware of the needs and background of ethnic groups, as well as to be familiar with their own cultural assumptions. Secondly, the study of psychiatric illness across cultures can illuminate features of such an illness in our own society. Thirdly, the way in which racism may initiate or sustain psychiatric disorder had become a topic essential to a present-day understanding of transcultural psychiatry. Originally published in 1986, this book provides a review of many such aspects of transcultural psychiatry. It is written at a level suitable for mental health professionals, including trainee psychiatrists, but would also interest students and other qualified staff, including psychologists, nurses, social workers and other professional workers concerned with race relations and the provision of psychiatric services for ethnic groups.
This volume presents cutting-edge work in cross-cultural psychiatry by an international group of clinicians, researchers, and leaders in mental health policy. The book grew out of a recent lecture series at the Massachusetts General Hospital and features contributions from diverse fields including psychiatry, psychology, anthropology, social work, social medicine, and public policy. The first section highlights the implications of biological and cultural diversity for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. Subsequent sections focus on psychotherapy in cross-cultural contexts and international mental health policy. Chapters examine a variety of patient populations, including Asian, African, and Hispanic Americans and populations in Europe and developing countries.
Recent neuroscience research makes it clear that human biology is cultural biology - we develop and live our lives in socially constructed worlds that vary widely in their structure values, and institutions. This integrative volume brings together interdisciplinary perspectives from the human, social, and biological sciences to explore culture, mind, and brain interactions and their impact on personal and societal issues. Contributors provide a fresh look at emerging concepts, models, and applications of the co-constitution of culture, mind, and brain. Chapters survey the latest theoretical and methodological insights alongside the challenges in this area, and describe how these new ideas are being applied in the sciences, humanities, arts, mental health, and everyday life. Readers will gain new appreciation of the ways in which our unique biology and cultural diversity shape behavior and experience, and our ongoing adaptation to a constantly changing world.
Some of the most innovative and provocative work on the emotions and illness is occurring in cross-cultural research on depression. Culture and Depression presents the work of anthropologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists who examine the controversies, agreements, and conceptual and methodological problems that arise in the course of such research. A book of enormous depth and breadth of discussion, Culture and Depression enriches the cross-cultural study of emotions and mental illness and leads it in new directions. It commences with a historical study followed by a series of anthropological accounts that examine the problems that arise when depression is assessed in other cultures. This is a work of impressive scholarship which demonstrates that anthropological approaches to affect and illness raise central questions for psychiatry and psychology, and that cross-cultural studies of depression raise equally provocative questions for anthropology. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1987. Some of the most innovative and provocative work on the emotions and illness is occurring in cross-cultural research on depression. Culture and Depression presents the work of anthropologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists who examine the controversies
Cultural psychiatry is primarily concerned with the transcultural aspects of mental health related to human behavior, psychopathology and treatment. At a clinical level, cultural psychiatry aims to promote culturally relevant mental health care for patients of diverse ethnic or cultural backgrounds. From the standpoint of research, cultural psychiatry is interested in studying how ethnic or cultural factors may influence human behavior and psychopathology as well as the art of healing. On a theoretical level, cultural psychiatry aims to expand the knowledge and theories about mental health-related human behavior and mental problems by widening the sources of information and findings transculturally, and providing cross-cultural validation. This work represents the first comprehensive attempt to pull together the clinical, research and theoretical findings in a single volume. Key Features * Written by a nationally and internationally well-known author and scholar * The material focuses not only on the United States but also on various cultural settings around the world so that the subject matter can be examined broadly from universal as well as cross-cultural perspectives * Proper combination of clinical practicalities and conceptual discussion * Serves as a major source for use in the training of psychiatric residents and mental health personnel as well as students of behavior science in the areas of culture and mental health * A total of 50 chapters with detailed cross-referencing * Nearly 2000 references plus an appendix of almost 400 books * 130 tables and figures
This volume collects papers presented at a 1969 conference, "Social Change and Cultural Factors in Mental Health," held at the University of Hawaii's East-West Center. Editor Lebra succinctly sums up the two themes of the collected papers: (1) in underdeveloped regions, discover the prevalence of mental health disorders and, (2) in "more developed areas," understand and control ourselves before irreparable damage is done to mankind. The volume represents an admirable attempt at cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural communication--no mean undertaking. It will undoubtedly constitute a major source in its field, and is likely to be consulted by specialists in medicine and behavioral science alike. In this regard, editor Lebra, the conference participants, and the East-West Center have made a valuable contribution to our cross-cultural understanding of "psychiatric epidemiology."
