Perspectives In Cross Cultural Psychiatry

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.

Explains and explores the important areas of psychology through a cultural perspective This book addresses key areas of psychology, placing them in cultural perspective via a comprehensive overview of current work integrating culture across the major subfields of psychological science. Chapters explore the relation of culture to psychological phenomena, starting with introductory and research foundations, and moving to clinical and social principles and applications. It covers the subfields that are of most importance to undergraduates and beginning graduates, such as consciousness, development, cognition, intelligence, personality, research methods, statistics, gender, personality, health, and well-being. Cross-Cultural Psychology: Contemporary Themes and Perspectives, 2nd Edition is richly documented with research findings and examples from many cultures, illuminating the strengths and limitations of North American psychology, while also highlighting the diversity and vitality of this fascinating field. The book offers many new chapters, in addition to fully updated ones from the previous edition. Starting with basic concepts in the subject, the book offers chapters covering ethnocentrism, diversity, evolutionary psychology, and development across cultures. It also examines education, dreams, language and communication issues, sex roles, happiness, attractiveness, and more. Provides a comprehensive overview of current work integrating culture across major subfields of psychological science Offers introductory chapters on topics such as cultural psychology and ethnocentrism, which provide a foundation for more specialized chapters in development, education, cognition, and beyond Features new chapters in areas such as cultural competence, culture and dreams, education across cultures, abnormality across cultures, and evolutionary psychology Presents chapters by some of the leading contributors to the fields of cultural and cross- cultural psychology Cross-Cultural Psychology: Contemporary Themes and Perspectives, 2nd Edition is an ideal book for undergraduate and graduate courses in cultural or cross-cultural psychology.

Cultural psychiatry has been the portal through which advances in the social sciences have found their way into medical practice and health policy. Diverse issues and activities in research and practice of cultural and transcultural psychiatry are collected in this timely volume. The contributions can be summarized in three main topics: interdisciplinary settings for practice and research; migration, trauma and the context of migrant mental health, and cultural lessons for treatment. This book provides essential reading for health professionals and social scientists who would like to understand how culture influences mental health as well as the treatment and prevention of mental illness. It will be of special interest to medical anthropologists concerned with the relationship between culture theory and psychiatry, mental health care providers and policy makers in an international environment.

This volume presents the reader with a stimulating tapestry of essays exploring the nature of personal autonomy, self-determination, and agency, and their role in human optimal functioning at multiple levels of analysis from personal to societal and cross-cultural. The starting point for these explorations is self-determination theory, an integrated theory of human motivation and healthy development which has been under development for more than three decades (Deci & Ryan, 2000). As the contributions will make clear, psychological autonomy is a concept that forms the bridge between the dependence of human behavior on biological and socio-cultural determinants on the one side, and people’s ability to be free, reflective, and transforming agents who can challenge these dependencies, on the other. The authors within this volume share a vision that human autonomy is a fundamental pre-condition for both individuals and groups to thrive, and that without understanding the nature and mechanisms of autonomous agency vital social and human problems cannot be satisfactory addressed. This multidisciplinary team of researchers will collectively explore the nature of personal autonomy, considering its developmental origins, its expression within relationships, its importance within groups and organizational functioning, and its role in promoting to the democratic and economic development of societies. The book is aimed toward developmental, social, personality, and cross-cultural psychologists, towards researchers and practitioners’ in the areas of education, health and medicine, social work and, economics, and also towards all interested in creating a more sustainable and just world society through promoting individual freedom and agency. This volume will provide a theoretical and conceptual account of the nature and psychological mechanisms of personal motivational autonomy and human agency; rich multidisciplinary empirical evidence supporting the claims and propositions about the nature of human autonomy and capacities for self-regulation; explanations of how and why different psychological and socio-cultural conditions may play a role in promoting or undermining people’s autonomous motivation and well-being, discussions of how the promotion of human autonomy can positively influence environmental protection, democracy promotion and economic prosperity.

Today‘s world is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. Within the context of globalisation and the associated increased contact between diverse groups of people, the psychology of culture is more relevant than ever. Asia-Pacific Perspectives on Intercultural Psychology brings together leading researchers from 11 countries to show

This book offers evidence-based clinical approaches for understanding disparities in the provision of mental-health services in the U.S. and other industrialized nations. Chapters address the availability and barriers to care among various ethnic populations and the roles of their cultures, languages, and religions as they affect diagnostic and treatment approaches. Issues related to special populations such as migrants, refugees, incarcerated individuals, and the homeless are discussed. The book also addresses issues related to gender, sexual orientation, and age. Brief sections on training, education, and policy will lay the foundation for assessing evidence-based approaches and outcomes in these diverse populations.