In this seminar we will explore research and ideas about the cultural contexts of both mental ill... more In this seminar we will explore research and ideas about the cultural contexts of both mental illness and health, at the interface of psychology, medical anthropology, and cultural psychiatry. The course will examine psychiatric approaches, anthropological studies of psychopathology, epidemiology, clinical work, and recent theorizing, and then how all this may contribute to our understanding of the categories and idioms of mental illness. We will look more closely at three psychiatric disorders and suicide. We will also review current work on culture and well-being in order to better understand meanings of mental health.
Ethnography is at the core of anthropology, yet as a method it has been increasingly finding its ... more Ethnography is at the core of anthropology, yet as a method it has been increasingly finding its way into other disciplines including psychology. Topics in this course will thus incorporate the psychological, including psychological and cognitive anthropology and cultural psychology. We will also discuss the creation of an anthropological psychology. This course will cover ethnography in theory and practice over the last century, with a closer look at what some are calling "the new ethnographies." Each student will carry out a small field project. Classes will consist of discussions of readings/ideas and of student projects and fieldnotes, a primary source of ethnographic data.
The course will emphasize orienting frameworks and historical discourse regarding problems in liv... more The course will emphasize orienting frameworks and historical discourse regarding problems in living and social intervention within the field of community psychology. Broadly speaking, this course will explore ecological and social factors related to human behavior and social intervention. Concepts from community, organizational, and social psychology will be explored as they relate to understanding and addressing problems in living. This course will emphasize multiple levels of analysis (e.g., individual, community) and intervention (e.g., individual, organizational, and systems change). Finally, this course will explore the methods, practice, and ethics of community-based research and social intervention.
Interest is growing in community psychology to look more closely at culture. Culture has resided ... more Interest is growing in community psychology to look more closely at culture. Culture has resided in community psychology in its emphasis on context, ecology, and diversity, however we believe that the field will benefit from a more explicit focus on culture. We suggest a cultural approach that values the community's points of view and an understanding of shared and divergent meanings, goals, and norms within a theory of empowerment. Furthermore, we posit the importance of pluralistic, multi-method programs of research and action encompassing both idiographic and nomothetic approaches, and critical reflexivity of our roles and agendas. Culture can be further incorporated into all the branches and fibers of community psychology.
Psychology has been a deductive science where theory and hypotheses precede investigation of new ... more Psychology has been a deductive science where theory and hypotheses precede investigation of new knowledge. Data inform theory which then leads to more refined hypotheses. The recent move toward a cultural psychology calls for an unfurling of this perspective. This involves consideration of an epistemology at the core of anthropology, a shift toward first-person points of view, where ethnography is the inductive method based on a practical philosophy. This paper examines what is at stake for psychology to enter the interpretive social sciences where culturally-constituted subjectivity and intersubjectivity are the objects of investigation. An anthropological imagination is a critical supplement to a multi-method approach in psychology, or an alternative epistemology, that augments knowledge of cultural persons.
Suicide among young Inuit in the Canadian Arctic is at an epidemic level. In order to understand ... more Suicide among young Inuit in the Canadian Arctic is at an epidemic level. In order to understand the distress and well-being experienced in Inuit communities, a first step in understanding collective suicide, this qualitative study was designed. Fifty Inuit were interviewed in two Inuit communities in Nunavut, Canada, and questionnaires asking the same questions were given to 66 high school and college students. The areas of life investigated here were happiness and wellbeing, unhappiness, healing, and community and personal change. Three themes emerged as central to well-being: the family, talking/communication, and traditional Inuit cultural values and practices. The absence of these factors were most closely associated with unhappiness. Narratives about community and personal change were primarily about family, intergenerational segregation, an increasing population, more trouble in romantic relationships among youth, drug use, and poverty.
To review suicide patterns among Inuit in Canada and highlight new developments in Inuit-driven a... more To review suicide patterns among Inuit in Canada and highlight new developments in Inuit-driven and community-based suicide prevention. Study design. Narrative overview of suicide among Inuit in Canada, strides towards Inuit autonomy, and community and government action towards suicide prevention. Methods. Review of Inuit meanings of mental health, movements towards Inuit control across Inuit Nunaat (the 4 Inuit regions) of Canada, and of community and government action towards suicide prevention. Results. Economic advancement is occurring in Inuit Nunaat following land claim settlements, and territorial and provincial governments are overseeing Inuit well-being. Inuit community engagement in suicide prevention is taking place and studies are being planned to evaluate the efficacy of such action for suicide prevention and community mental health. Initial evidence demonstrates that community control over suicide prevention itself can be effective towards preventing suicide.
Inuit youth suicide is at an epidemic level in the circumpolar north. Rapid culture change has le... more Inuit youth suicide is at an epidemic level in the circumpolar north. Rapid culture change has left Inuit in a state of coloniality that destabilized their kin-based social organization, and in spite of advances in self-governance social problems such as suicide continue. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork I carried out in Nunavut, Canada (2004, including 27 interviews with Inuit between the ages of 17 and 61, I examine male youth in particular in the context of recent colonial change, gender ideologies and behavior, youth autonomy, and the family. Anger is common among Inuit male youth, often directed toward girlfriends and parents, and suicide is embedded in some of these relationships. Many Inuit male youth are struggling with a new cultural model of love and sexuality. Inuit speak about a need for more responsible parenting. Evidence is beginning to show, however, that local, community-based suicide prevention may be working. [suicide, Inuit, youth, gender, colonialism]
Indigenous youth suicide incidence is high globally, and mostly involves young males. However, th... more Indigenous youth suicide incidence is high globally, and mostly involves young males. However, the Inuit of Arctic Canada have a suicide rate that is among the highest in the world (and ten times that for the rest of Canada). The author suggests that suicide increase has emerged because of changes stemming in part from the Canadian government era in the Arctic in the 1950s and 1960s. The effects of government intervention dramatically affected kin relations, roles, and responsibilities, and affinal/ romantic relationships. Suicide is embedded in these relationships. The author also discusses the polarization between psychiatric and indigenous/community methods of healing, demonstrating that government-based intervention approaches to mental health are not working well, and traditional cultural healing practices often take place outside of the mainstream clinics in these communities. The main questions of the paper are: Who should control suicide prevention? What is the best knowledge base for suicide prevention?
Qualitative methods are the investigative tools of choice for the field of cultural psychology, i... more Qualitative methods are the investigative tools of choice for the field of cultural psychology, in which the study of meaning is central. The process of cultural psychological research calls for an approach that emphasizes the quality of the relationship between researchers and participants. We argue for the importance of this relationship in the development of the validity and usefulness of such work. Methods within this framework often include dialectic communication, respect, participam W partnership, inductive reasoning, and the taking of extra time as necessa W. In this paper, research projects with urban Canadian street youth, Inuit prison inmates, and Inuit community members experiencing a youth suicide epidemic are provided as case studies that highlight the relational motif in qualitative research.
This study investigated the relationship between coping strategies and distress symptomatology in... more This study investigated the relationship between coping strategies and distress symptomatology in survivors of sexual revictimization. Coping strategies were assessed with the revised Ways of Coping Scale (Aldwin & Revenson, 1987). Distress symptoms included global distress, depression, anxiety, and somatization. Subjects were 44 survivors of sexual victimization in both childhood and adulthood; 54 survivors of a single incident of sexual victimization in childhood; and 256 nonvictimized individuals. All were drawn from a subject pool of female undergraduate students. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences between groups on reported symptomatology and coping strategies. Victimized groups reported more distress than did the nonvictimized group. The multiple victimization group indicated greater use of coping strategies than did the nonvictimized group, and both victimized groups reported greater use of the escapism strategy than did the nonvictimized group. Multiple backward regression analysis found that coping strategies were predictive of distress symptomatology in all three groups, with escapism as the most potent predictor of distress for each group. Coping strategies were the most powerful predictors of distress in the multiply victimized group. The results of this study provide strong support for the importance of addressing coping strategies in clinical intervention of distress, particularly with survivors of multiple sexual victimization.
In this seminar we will explore research and ideas about the cultural contexts of both mental ill... more In this seminar we will explore research and ideas about the cultural contexts of both mental illness and health, at the interface of psychology, medical anthropology, and cultural psychiatry. The course will examine psychiatric approaches, anthropological studies of psychopathology, epidemiology, clinical work, and recent theorizing, and then how all this may contribute to our understanding of the categories and idioms of mental illness. We will look more closely at three psychiatric disorders and suicide. We will also review current work on culture and well-being in order to better understand meanings of mental health.
Ethnography is at the core of anthropology, yet as a method it has been increasingly finding its ... more Ethnography is at the core of anthropology, yet as a method it has been increasingly finding its way into other disciplines including psychology. Topics in this course will thus incorporate the psychological, including psychological and cognitive anthropology and cultural psychology. We will also discuss the creation of an anthropological psychology. This course will cover ethnography in theory and practice over the last century, with a closer look at what some are calling "the new ethnographies." Each student will carry out a small field project. Classes will consist of discussions of readings/ideas and of student projects and fieldnotes, a primary source of ethnographic data.
The course will emphasize orienting frameworks and historical discourse regarding problems in liv... more The course will emphasize orienting frameworks and historical discourse regarding problems in living and social intervention within the field of community psychology. Broadly speaking, this course will explore ecological and social factors related to human behavior and social intervention. Concepts from community, organizational, and social psychology will be explored as they relate to understanding and addressing problems in living. This course will emphasize multiple levels of analysis (e.g., individual, community) and intervention (e.g., individual, organizational, and systems change). Finally, this course will explore the methods, practice, and ethics of community-based research and social intervention.
Interest is growing in community psychology to look more closely at culture. Culture has resided ... more Interest is growing in community psychology to look more closely at culture. Culture has resided in community psychology in its emphasis on context, ecology, and diversity, however we believe that the field will benefit from a more explicit focus on culture. We suggest a cultural approach that values the community's points of view and an understanding of shared and divergent meanings, goals, and norms within a theory of empowerment. Furthermore, we posit the importance of pluralistic, multi-method programs of research and action encompassing both idiographic and nomothetic approaches, and critical reflexivity of our roles and agendas. Culture can be further incorporated into all the branches and fibers of community psychology.
Psychology has been a deductive science where theory and hypotheses precede investigation of new ... more Psychology has been a deductive science where theory and hypotheses precede investigation of new knowledge. Data inform theory which then leads to more refined hypotheses. The recent move toward a cultural psychology calls for an unfurling of this perspective. This involves consideration of an epistemology at the core of anthropology, a shift toward first-person points of view, where ethnography is the inductive method based on a practical philosophy. This paper examines what is at stake for psychology to enter the interpretive social sciences where culturally-constituted subjectivity and intersubjectivity are the objects of investigation. An anthropological imagination is a critical supplement to a multi-method approach in psychology, or an alternative epistemology, that augments knowledge of cultural persons.
Suicide among young Inuit in the Canadian Arctic is at an epidemic level. In order to understand ... more Suicide among young Inuit in the Canadian Arctic is at an epidemic level. In order to understand the distress and well-being experienced in Inuit communities, a first step in understanding collective suicide, this qualitative study was designed. Fifty Inuit were interviewed in two Inuit communities in Nunavut, Canada, and questionnaires asking the same questions were given to 66 high school and college students. The areas of life investigated here were happiness and wellbeing, unhappiness, healing, and community and personal change. Three themes emerged as central to well-being: the family, talking/communication, and traditional Inuit cultural values and practices. The absence of these factors were most closely associated with unhappiness. Narratives about community and personal change were primarily about family, intergenerational segregation, an increasing population, more trouble in romantic relationships among youth, drug use, and poverty.
To review suicide patterns among Inuit in Canada and highlight new developments in Inuit-driven a... more To review suicide patterns among Inuit in Canada and highlight new developments in Inuit-driven and community-based suicide prevention. Study design. Narrative overview of suicide among Inuit in Canada, strides towards Inuit autonomy, and community and government action towards suicide prevention. Methods. Review of Inuit meanings of mental health, movements towards Inuit control across Inuit Nunaat (the 4 Inuit regions) of Canada, and of community and government action towards suicide prevention. Results. Economic advancement is occurring in Inuit Nunaat following land claim settlements, and territorial and provincial governments are overseeing Inuit well-being. Inuit community engagement in suicide prevention is taking place and studies are being planned to evaluate the efficacy of such action for suicide prevention and community mental health. Initial evidence demonstrates that community control over suicide prevention itself can be effective towards preventing suicide.
Inuit youth suicide is at an epidemic level in the circumpolar north. Rapid culture change has le... more Inuit youth suicide is at an epidemic level in the circumpolar north. Rapid culture change has left Inuit in a state of coloniality that destabilized their kin-based social organization, and in spite of advances in self-governance social problems such as suicide continue. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork I carried out in Nunavut, Canada (2004, including 27 interviews with Inuit between the ages of 17 and 61, I examine male youth in particular in the context of recent colonial change, gender ideologies and behavior, youth autonomy, and the family. Anger is common among Inuit male youth, often directed toward girlfriends and parents, and suicide is embedded in some of these relationships. Many Inuit male youth are struggling with a new cultural model of love and sexuality. Inuit speak about a need for more responsible parenting. Evidence is beginning to show, however, that local, community-based suicide prevention may be working. [suicide, Inuit, youth, gender, colonialism]
Indigenous youth suicide incidence is high globally, and mostly involves young males. However, th... more Indigenous youth suicide incidence is high globally, and mostly involves young males. However, the Inuit of Arctic Canada have a suicide rate that is among the highest in the world (and ten times that for the rest of Canada). The author suggests that suicide increase has emerged because of changes stemming in part from the Canadian government era in the Arctic in the 1950s and 1960s. The effects of government intervention dramatically affected kin relations, roles, and responsibilities, and affinal/ romantic relationships. Suicide is embedded in these relationships. The author also discusses the polarization between psychiatric and indigenous/community methods of healing, demonstrating that government-based intervention approaches to mental health are not working well, and traditional cultural healing practices often take place outside of the mainstream clinics in these communities. The main questions of the paper are: Who should control suicide prevention? What is the best knowledge base for suicide prevention?
Qualitative methods are the investigative tools of choice for the field of cultural psychology, i... more Qualitative methods are the investigative tools of choice for the field of cultural psychology, in which the study of meaning is central. The process of cultural psychological research calls for an approach that emphasizes the quality of the relationship between researchers and participants. We argue for the importance of this relationship in the development of the validity and usefulness of such work. Methods within this framework often include dialectic communication, respect, participam W partnership, inductive reasoning, and the taking of extra time as necessa W. In this paper, research projects with urban Canadian street youth, Inuit prison inmates, and Inuit community members experiencing a youth suicide epidemic are provided as case studies that highlight the relational motif in qualitative research.
This study investigated the relationship between coping strategies and distress symptomatology in... more This study investigated the relationship between coping strategies and distress symptomatology in survivors of sexual revictimization. Coping strategies were assessed with the revised Ways of Coping Scale (Aldwin & Revenson, 1987). Distress symptoms included global distress, depression, anxiety, and somatization. Subjects were 44 survivors of sexual victimization in both childhood and adulthood; 54 survivors of a single incident of sexual victimization in childhood; and 256 nonvictimized individuals. All were drawn from a subject pool of female undergraduate students. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences between groups on reported symptomatology and coping strategies. Victimized groups reported more distress than did the nonvictimized group. The multiple victimization group indicated greater use of coping strategies than did the nonvictimized group, and both victimized groups reported greater use of the escapism strategy than did the nonvictimized group. Multiple backward regression analysis found that coping strategies were predictive of distress symptomatology in all three groups, with escapism as the most potent predictor of distress for each group. Coping strategies were the most powerful predictors of distress in the multiply victimized group. The results of this study provide strong support for the importance of addressing coping strategies in clinical intervention of distress, particularly with survivors of multiple sexual victimization.
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