Psychological Anthropology For The 21st Century

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to psychological anthropology, covering both the early history and contemporary state of the field. Eller discusses the major themes, theories, figures and publications, and provides a detailed survey of the essential and enduring relationship between anthropology and psychology. The volume charts the development, celebrates the accomplishments, critiques the inadequacies, and considers the future of a field that has made great contributions to the overall discipline of anthropology. The chapters feature rich ethnographic examples and boxes for more in-depth discussion as well as summaries and questions to support teaching and learning. This is essential reading for all students new to the study of psychological anthropology.

This Companion provides the first definitive overview of psychocultural anthropology: a subject that focuses on cultural, psychological, and social interrelations across cultures. Brings together original essays by leading scholars in the field Offers an in-depth exploration of the concepts and topics that have emerged through contemporary ethnographic work and the processes of global change Key issues range from studies of consciousness and time, emotion, cognition, dreaming, and memory, to the lingering effects of racism and ethnocentrism, violence, identity and subjectivity

The field of psychological anthropology has changed a great deal since the 1940s and 1950s, when it was often known as 'Culture and Personality Studies'. Rooted in psychoanalytic psychology, its early practitioners sought to extend that psychology through the study of cross-cultural variation in personality and child-rearing practices. Psychological anthropology has since developed in a number of new directions. Tensions between individual experience and collective meanings remain as central to the field as they were fifty years ago, but, alongside fresh versions of the psychoanalytic approach, other approaches to the study of cognition, emotion, the body, and the very nature of subjectivity have been introduced. And in the place of an earlier tendency to treat a 'culture' as an undifferentiated whole, psychological anthropology now recognizes the complex internal structure of cultures. The contributors to this state-of-the-art collection are all leading figures in contemporary psychological anthropology, and they write abour recent developments in the field. Sections of the book discuss cognition, developmental psychology, biology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis, areas that have always been integral to psychological anthropology but which are now being transformed by new perspectives on the body, meaning, agency and communicative practice.

"In this introduction to an important field, Bock provides a critical account of the ways that anthropologists have used and misused psychological concepts in their studies of various societies. He argues that we must be aware of these past efforts and errors if we are to develop culturally sensitive ways of understanding the relationship of individuals to their societies. Starting with nineteenth-century studies of "primitive mentality," the book examines the school of culture and personality, including cross-cultural correlational studies, and continuing on to recent work on sociobiology, shamanism, self, and emotion. Relevant psychological concepts are explained as needed, and each approach is presented in its own terms before critical examination. " -- publisher.

A view of human nature generally forms part of the assumptions that undergird psychological theories and psychotherapeutic approaches. In this book, Christian anthropology is articulated as a foundation for the theories, approaches and techniques applied in practice by its contributors. Various essays from European-based practitioners in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy and counselling are included here. These authors draw scientific knowledge from the fields of psychology and psychotherapy, focusing on intra-psychic aspects of human functioning, such as emotions, drives and cognitions, as well as interpersonal and eco-systemic functioning. In addition to this, the authors consider spirituality as an intrinsic part of humanity through which persons seek meaning and transcendence and that influences physical and mental health. Spiritual insight is gained from the field of theology with specific reference to the Christian faith tradition. As a wide range of topics, contexts and cultural and ecumenical backgrounds are covered in this book many practitioners in mental health care and counselling should benefit from the knowledge, ideas and practical experience shared here.

After over three decades of continual publication in multiple editions, the Third Edition of Rethinking Psychological Anthropology, now with coauthor Stephen Leavitt, describes the latest interests, concepts, and approaches in the field with the inclusion of four new chapters and updates to earlier topics. The premise of the previous editions remains: that all anthropology is psychological and that the interplay between anthropological methods and the psychological theories existing in different times is dialectical. Psychological anthropologists have grappled with changing trends in both disciplines, including psychoanalytic, holistic, cognitive, interpretive, and developmental approaches. It is important to appreciate these currents of thought to understand the state of the field today. This text is thus a guide to that history along with a critique that may lead to a new synthesis. It is an ideal choice for courses in psychological anthropology, cross-cultural psychology, and the history of anthropology.

This is a compilation of the classic ethnographic work on personality and culture by some of the pioneers in the field, as well as the most significant recent work. Beginning with an exposition of Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, this volume goes on, in the remaining articles, to define personality's role in shaping culture. Intelligence, abnormality, acculturation, and Oedipal problems are some of the special concers of psychological anthropology which are covered in this book. -- from back cover.