Normal And Abnormal Behavior In Chinese Culture

Our purpose in assembling the papers in this collection is to introduce readers to studies of normal and abnormal behavior in Chinese culture. We want to offer a sense o/what psychiatrists and social scientists are doing to advance our under standing of this subject, including what fmdings are being made, what questions researched, what conundrums worried over. Since our fund of knowledge is obviously incomplete, we want our readers to be aware of the limits to what we know and to our acquisition of new knowledge. Although the subject is too vast and uncharted to support a comprehensive synthesis, in a few areas - e. g. , psychiatric epidemiology - enough is known for us to be able to present major reviews. The chapters themselves cover a variety of themes that we regard as both intrinsically interesting and deserving of more systematic evaluation. Many of the issues they address we believe to be valid concerns for comparative cross cultural studies. No attempt is made to artificially integrate these chapters, since the editors wish to highlight their distinctive interpretive frameworks as evidence of the rich variety of approaches that scholars take to this subject. 'We see this volume as a modest and self-consciously limited exploration. Here are some accounts and interpretations (but by no means all) of normal and ab normal behavior in the context of Chinese culture that we believe fashion a more discriminating understanding of at least a few important aspects of that subject.

A pionering inquiry on the role, perception and representation of emotional sphere in traditional Chinese culture provides a fascinating contribution on a key anthropological problem, in order to understand not only pre-modern private history, but also contemporary Chinese society. The importance of this work goes beyond Chinese studies.

Chinese Culture and Mental Health presents an in-depth study of the culture and mental health of the Chinese people in varying settings, geographic areas, and times. The book focuses on the study of the relationships between mental health and customs, beliefs, and philosophies in the Chinese cultural setting. The text reviews traditional and contemporary Chinese culture; characteristic relations and psychological problems common in the Chinese family; adjustment of the Chinese in different socio-geographical circumstances; and general review of mental health problems. Ethnologists, sinologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists will find the book interesting.

The aim of this book is twofold: to promote an awareness of cultural differences in connection with sexual medicine among health care providers, and to demonstrate how such differences are relevant to the care and treatment of patients with sexual issues. Individual sexuality represents the cumulative effects of biological, psychological, and cultural influences. Yet much of the study of sexuality—including issues ranging from sexual identity to sexual response—has been conducted through a Western lens. Although a substantial body of work in anthropology has taken up the study of human sexuality from a cross-cultural perspective, two points are notable. First, this work seldom crosses the desks of medical and psychological health practitioners, and second, the relevance of specific cultural differences is rarely apparent to the typical sexual health practitioner. To address this situation, this book adopts a global perspective, focusing on how cultural practices and values can impact health care, treatment, and outcomes. In this regard, it covers three broad domains: Sexual Identity and Orientation; Sexual Response and Dysfunction; and Sexual Diversity. Each chapter consists of two parts: a general description of the relevant issues, and a discussion of how these issues can be relevant to clinical practice. The book offers a valuable, practical tool for specialists in sexual medicine and sexual psychology, for sexual healthcare givers, and for sexological researchers who want to better serve their patients by developing an awareness of and sensitivity to cultural differences, and by providing a framework for dealing with issues of sexuality and sexual health that takes cultural values into consideration, while adhering to best practices in patient care.

Following on the previous volume, Mental Health in Asia and the Pacific, which was co-edited with Milton Lewis, this book explores historical and contemporary developments in mental health in China and Chinese immigrant populations. It presents the development of mental health policies and services from the 19th Century until the present time, offering a clear view of the antecedents of today’s policies and practice. Chapters focus on traditional Chinese conceptions of mental illness, the development of the Chinese mental health system through the massive political, social, cultural and economic transformations in China from the late 19th Century to the present, and the mental health of Chinese immigrants in several countries with large Chinese populations. China’s international political and economic influence and its capabilities in mental health science and innovation have grown rapidly in recent decades. So has China’s engagement in international institutions, and in global economic and health development activities. Chinese immigrant communities are to be found in almost all countries all around the world. Readers of this book will gain an understanding of how historical, cultural, economic, social, and political contexts have influenced the development of mental health law, policies and services in China and how these contexts in migrant receiving countries shape the mental health of Chinese immigrants.

In The Culture of Love in China and Europe Paolo Santangelo and Gábor Boros offer a survey of the cults of love developed in the history of ideas and literary production in China and Europe between the 12th and early 19th century. They describe parallel evolutions within the two cultures, and how innovatively these independent civilisations developed their own categories and myths to explain, exalt but also control the emotions of love and their behavioural expressions. The analyses contain rich materials for comparison, point out the universal and specific elements in each culture, and hint at differences and resemblances, without ignoring the peculiar beauty and attractive force of the texts cultivating love.

This handbook emphasizes culturally sensitive social services for Asian and Pacific Islanders. It integrates conceptual information with concrete, hands-on application of skills. The book is divided into three parts: (1) the nature and scope of social services for Asian and Pacific Islanders (2) Asian and Pacific Islander populations and (3) special issues and problems. The first section establishes a foundation for culturally sensitive practice through an overview of all Asian and Pacific Islander groups. It presents a framework for appropriate intervention with these populations and details the interface of western and eastern psychologies. Section two specifically focuses on seven of the largest Asian and Pacific Islander populations in the United States: the three largest Asian American groups (Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese); the three largest Pacific Islander groups (native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Chamorros); and the newest refugee group (Vietnamese). The contributors provide in-depth information on topics critical to culturally sensitive practice such as history, sociodemographic description, values and behavioral norms, and profiles of social and psychological problems, then discuss appropriate social service intervention. Finally, section three addresses special problems and issues confronting Asian and Pacific Islanders in contemporary society such as family violence, aging, and social literacy. It is projected that in the year 2030, one of every three Americans will be a person of color. It is essential that social and human service educators and providers begin to examine critically those components that constitute culturally sensitive practice for a historically neglected population. This book will be an essential part of that process.

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.