PSYCH 801.3 (01)
2011-2012
CULTURE, MENTAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS
Instructor: James B. Waldram, PhD Main Office:
Dept of Psychology Dept of Psychology
182 Arts 154 Arts
966-6170 966-6657
j.waldram@usask.ca
Course Description:
This advanced seminar examines the role of culture in understanding mental health and illness.
Adopting a critical perspective, the course explores the meaning of culture, how disorders are constructed within the culture of biomedicine, how mental health and illness is configured crossculturally, and how culture is employed in medical, psychological and psychiatric treatment.
Textbooks:
Hinton, Devon E., and Byron Good, eds.
2009. Culture and Panic Disorder. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Martin, Emily
2007 Bipolar Expeditions: Mania and depression in American Culture. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
O’Nell, Theresa D. (1996). Disciplined Hearts: History, identity and depression in an American
Indian Community. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Course Requirements:
1.
Class Presentations: each week selected students will present a critical summary and analysis of one article or chapter from the reading list for that week. Each student will have between 20 and 30 minutes for their presentation, depending on the number of articles to be presented that week. The number of presentations will depend on the size of the class, (likely between two and four presentations each), but students must expect to present each week. In all cases, the student will lead the discussion.
The specific presenters will be determined at the beginning of each class session. This means you must come prepared to present on ALL readings in EVERY class. You will be
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given one “pass” over the course of the term, where you can decline to present when asked, without penalty. Failure to otherwise present will result in a grade of “0” for that presentation.
You will:
 summarize the main points or arguments of the article. DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE
WHOLE ARTICLE!

Present and discuss concepts and core ideas found in the reading.

Provide critical insight, such as by questioning assumptions, methodology, concepts.

Discuss linkages between this article and previous work we have read.

Consider if and how the article adds to our understanding of culture and mental health issues.

Provide a ONE-PAGE summary of your presentation’s main points to the other students and professor. The professor should receive a hard copy at class. The students, and professor, should receive an electronic copy within one day of the class. Note: Only those presenting must submit the summary.

Lead the discussion.
2.
Two short book reviews – see instructions in relevant weeks.
3.
Research Paper: each student will prepare a 25 page (approximately, including references) research paper on a topic related to culture and mental health and approved by the instructor. Students will present the paper to the class and possibly other members of the department in a 20-30 minute presentation.
Students must submit both a hard copy and electronic copy (on CD; CDs will be returned) of their paper, to allow for academic honesty checks. The late penalty for submission of the paper is 10%, regardless of the degree of lateness. Failure to present the paper orally will result in a grade of ‘0’ for that component.
4.
Class participation: students will be evaluated on the quality of their participation in class discussions of the material and presentations. Evidence of preparedness, willingness to engage in discussion, and critical insight are important. Attendance is not a significant indicator of participation.
Grade Allocation:
Class Presentations: 20%
Short book reviews: 20% Due in relevant weeks. See class schedule.
Research Paper: 50% (40% written; 10% oral presentation) Due November 23 (Wednesday), by 4:30 pm .
Class participation: 10%
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Academic Dishonesty: (source: http://www.usask.ca/university_secretary/dishonesty.shtml).
The following constitute some examples of academic dishonesty. Please consult the Student
Academic Dishonesty Rules of the University of Saskatchewan Council for further information.
- Theft of lecture notes, research work, computer files, or academic materials prepared by another student or an instructor;
-Using work done in one course in fulfilment of the requirements of another course unless approval is obtained from the instructor involved;
-Passing off the work of someone else as one's own;
- Plagiarism: the presentation of the work or idea of another in such a way as to give others the impression that it is the work or idea of the presenter. There is an onus on every student to become informed as to what does or does not constitute plagiarism. Ignorance of applicable standards of ethical writing is not an acceptable excuse. The critical consideration is the impression created in the mind of the others, not the subjective intent of the student. This determination involves an objective evaluation of the manuscript. No intent to deceive is required to establish plagiarism. Adequate attribution is required. What is essential is that another person have no doubt which words or research results are the student's and which are drawn from other sources. Full explicit acknowledgement of the source of the material is required.
Week 1: Introduction to course
What is “culture”?
Week 2: Why is Culture Important?
Watters, Ethan (2010). The Americanization of Mental Illness. New York Times, January 10,
2010.
Beiser, Morton (2003), Why should researchers care about culture? Canadian Journal of
Psychiatry 48(3): 154-160.
Littlewood, Roland. (2002). Pathologies of the west. Ch. 1 Psychiatry’s Culture. Ithaca: Cornell
University. OR: Int J Soc Psychiatry 1996 42 (4): 245-268.
Week 3 : An Introduction to Theory in Culture and Mental Health
Baldwin, J. Et al. Redefining Culture, Ch .1
De Munck, Victor. (2000). Culture, self, and meaning. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland. Ch.
2: Where is Culture Located?
Keesing, Roger. (1990). Theories of Culture Revisited. Canberra Anthropology 13(2): 46-60.
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Rogler, L. (1999) Methodological sources of cultural insensitivity in mental health research.
American Psychologist 54(2): 24-433.
Week 4 : An Introduction to Theory in Culture and Mental Health
Good, Byron J., and Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good. (1986) The Cultural Context of Diagnosis and
Therapy. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 20(2):
Lopez, Steven, and Peter Guarnaccia. (2000). Cultural psychopathology: Uncovering the social world of mental illness. Annual Review of Psychology 51:571-598.
Lakes, Kimberley, Steven Lopez, and Linda Garro (2006). Cultural competency and psychotherapy: Applying anthropologically informed conceptions of culture. Psychotherapy
43(4):380-396.
Kirmayer, Laurence (2007). Psychotherapy and the cultural concept of the person. Transcultural
Psychiatry 44(2):232-257.
Week 5: Culture and Depression
O’Nell, Theresa D. (1996). Disciplined Hearts: History, identity and depression in an American
Indian Community. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Assignment: Write a short (six pages maximum) paper on this book, outlining the main arguments about the relationship between culture and depression, and offering your critical appraisal of these arguments. Be prepared to share this assignment with the class.
Week 6 : Ethnopsychiatry and the Culture-Bound Syndromes
Weller, Susan, Roberta D. Baer, Javier Garcia de Alba Garcia , Mark Glazer, Robert Trotter,
Lee Pachter and Robert E. Klein. (2002). Regional variation in Latino descriptions of Susto.
Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 26(4): 449-472.
Sumathipala, A., S. Siribaddana, and D. Bhugra (2004). Culture-bound syndromes: The story of dhat syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry 184:200-209.
Mather, C. (2005). Accusations of genital theft: A case from northern Ghana. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 29:33-52.
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Week 7: Culture and Bipolar Disorder
Martin, Emily
2007 Bipolar Expeditions: Mania and depression in American Culture. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Write a short (six pages maximum) paper on this book, outlining the main arguments about the relationship between culture and bipolar disorder, and offering your critical appraisal of these arguments. Be prepared to share this assignment with the class.
Week 8 : Cultural Constructions of Order and Disorder
Obeyeskere, Gananath. (1985). Depression, Buddhism, and the work of culture in Sri Lanka. In
A. Kleinman and B. Good (eds). Culture and depression, pp.134-152. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Rhodes, Lorna. (2000). Taxonomic anxieties: Axis 1 and Axis II in Prison. Medical
Anthropology Quarterly 14(3): 346-373.
Nuckolls, Charles. (1992). Toward a cultural history of personality disorders. Social Science and
Medicine 35(1):37-47.
Kirmayer, Laurence J. (1996). Landscapes of memory: Trauma, narrative and dissociation. In
Antze, Paul, and Lambek, Michael (Eds). Tense past: cultural essays in trauma and memory.
Pp.173-198. New York: Routledge.
Week 9 : Culture and the DSM
Students should read the sections in the current DSMIV(TR) on the Cultural Formulation and
Culture-Bound Syndromes.
Mezzich, Juan E., Kirmayer, Laurence, Kleinman, Arthur, Fabrega, Horacio, Parron, Delores,
Good, Byron, Lin, Keh-Ming, Manson, Spero. (1999). The place of culture in DSM-IV. J
Nervous and Mental Disease 187(8): 457-464.
Lewis-Fernandez, Roberto. (1998). A cultural critique of the DSM-IV dissociative disorders section. Transcultural Psychiatry 35(3): 387-400.
Fleming, Candace M. (1996). Cultural formulation of psychiatric diagnosis: An American
Indian woman suffering from depression, alcoholism, and childhood trauma. Culture, Medicine,
& Psychiatry, 20: 145-154.
Hughes, Charles. (1998) The glossary of ‘culture-bound’ syndromes in DSM-IV: A Critique.
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Transcultural Psychiatry 35(3):413-421.
Week 10:
Culture and Panic Disorder
Good, Byron J., and Devon E. Hinton
2009 Introduction: Panic Disorder in Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspective. In D. Hinton and B. Good, eds. Culture and Panic Disorder, pp.1-28. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Kirmayer, Laurence J. and Caminee Blake
2009 Theoretical Perspectives on the Cross-Cultural Study of Panic Disorder. In D. Hinton and
B. Good, eds. Culture and Panic Disorder, pp.31-56.. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Hinton, Devon E., and Byron J. Good
2009 A Medical Anthropology of Panic Sensations: Ten Analytic Perspectives. In D. Hinton and B. Good, eds. Culture and Panic Disorder, pp.57-81. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lewis-Fernandez, Peter J. Guarnaccia, IgdaE, Martinez, Ester Salman, Andrew B. Scmidt, and
Michale Liebowitz
2009 Comparative Phenomenology of Ataques de Nervios, Panic Attacks, and Panic Disorder.
In D. Hinton and B. Good, eds. Culture and Panic Disorder, pp135-156. Stanford: Stanford
University Press.
Remaining weeks : Student Presentations of term papers
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