{"title":"A Ring Transforms: Children Learning Life and Death in Lod.","authors":"Talia S Katz","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09894-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09894-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article presents an ethnographic study of elementary school children's spontaneous role-plays at the Lod Theater Center in Israel, a site that brings psychodrama, a theater-based form of psychotherapy, to bear on Israel's long-standing institutional form of the community theater center. Based on sixteen months of ethnographic fieldwork (October 2021-January 2023) and in conversation with anthropological and psychodramatic theory, I chart how children growing up in a world of ongoing violence express their knowledge of life and death through spontaneous play. Analysis of the data revealed that children assimilated knowledge of death and political violence not as discrete events, but rather as part of learning something about their world as a whole. I posit that this finding has significant implications for understanding children's subjective experience of violence, showing how, in a particular context, ordinary life cycle events such as the loss of a grandmother from illness may appear just as normally as a terror attack. Shifting the focus of analysis from a bounded event to everyday life opens alternative pathways for conceptualizing how violence marks the self. This ethnographic approach moves beyond trauma discourse's focus on the event to describe how children piece together life lived in conflict.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143426472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Troublesome Bodies: How Bodies Come to Matter and Intrude in Eating Disorder Recovery.","authors":"Mari Holen, Agnes Ringer, Anne Mia Steno","doi":"10.1007/s11013-025-09896-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-025-09896-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding how bodies come to matter in eating disorder recovery is complex, particularly given the unresolved question of whether eating disorders are fundamentally about the body. Drawing on Analu Verbin's adaptation of Judith Butler's theory of performativity and Sarah Ahmed's body phenomenology, this paper examines how participants in a narrative and systemic group therapy program at a mental health clinic for eating disorders perceive themselves as recovering or recovered. We explore how the body is presented and understood in their recovery narratives, developing the concept of the 'troublesome body' to highlight the ambiguities these narratives reveal. The body in the participants' narratives is continuously shaped by an external gaze that alternates between recognition and concern, often oscillating between praise and scrutiny. Participants are tasked with cultivating a liberated, sensual body and a more natural relationship with food, achieved through therapeutic strategies such as establishing a mechanical eating pattern and 'neutralizing' the body in group settings. Yet the body resists, asserting its presence through physical sensations-rumbling stomachs and 'blobby' forms-that challenge these efforts. Crucially, the narrative and systemic group therapy is viewed by participants as pivotal in their recovery not because it resolves all eating disorder-related issues, but because it offers a collective space for 'troublesome bodies.' This space allows for bodies to exist without conforming to societal dichotomies or norms that are often imposed in other treatment contexts, thus, offering an alternative model of recovery where bodily ambiguities can be embraced rather than resolved.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143383686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nathalia Costa, Rebecca Olson, Karime Mescouto, Jenny Setchell, Stefanie Plage, Tinashe Dune, Jennifer Creese, Sameera Suleman, Rita Prasad-Ildes, Zheng Yen Ng
{"title":"Non-clinical Psychosocial Mental Health Support Programmes for People with Diverse Language and Cultural Backgrounds: A Critical Rapid Review.","authors":"Nathalia Costa, Rebecca Olson, Karime Mescouto, Jenny Setchell, Stefanie Plage, Tinashe Dune, Jennifer Creese, Sameera Suleman, Rita Prasad-Ildes, Zheng Yen Ng","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09893-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09893-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Low accessibility to mainstream psychosocial services disadvantages culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations, resulting in delayed care and high rates of unsupported psychological distress. Non-clinical interventions may play an important role in improving accessibility to psychosocial support, but what characterises best practice in this space remains unclear. This critical rapid review addressed this gap by searching for, and critically analysing, existing research on non-clinical psychosocial support services, drawing from a critical realist framework and Brossard and Chandler's (Brossard and Chandler, Explaining mental illness: Sociological perspectives, Bristol University Press, 2022) taxonomy of positions on culture and mental health. We searched PubMed, PsycInfo, LILACS, Scopus and Sociological Abstracts to identify non-clinical psychosocial support interventions for first-generation immigrant CALD populations delivered by lay-health workers. Thirty-eight studies were included: 10 quantitative, 7 mixed-methods and 21 qualitative. Most studies were conducted in North America (n = 19) and Europe (n = 7), with few conducted in low-income countries (Tanzania and Lebanon, n = 3 each, Kenya [n = 1]). Studies often focussed on specific interventions (e.g. psychoeducation) for targeted populations (e.g. refugees, Latinx immigrants); multimodal interventions (e.g. psychological support and food distribution) for broad populations were less common. Thirty-five different outcome scales were identified across quantitative and mixed-methods studies, with most covering depression, stress and trauma. Most studies identified significant improvements for at least one psychosocial outcome despite interventions being relatively short in sessions. Findings from qualitative studies highlighted varied engagement with theory-informed models of service, and identified important barriers to non-clinical psychosocial support services, including precarious resourcing. Our analysis suggests most studies were underpinned by split-relativist frameworks and focussed on interventions aimed at helping clients navigate the eurocentricity and complexity of mainstream services. Recognising the eurocentrism of universalist frameworks, working from a culturally relativist position, prioritising social determinants of health and using models that centre clients, flexibility, context, culture and community are likely to ensure best practice for non-clinical psychosocial support interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143068839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fariya Fatima Khan, Muhammad Salman Ul Haq, Asia Ashfaq, Muhammad Saud, Abdullah Ibrahim
{"title":"Monster of the Night: Identifying Pakistani Gender-Based, Religious, and Cultural Influences on Sleep Paralysis Among University Students.","authors":"Fariya Fatima Khan, Muhammad Salman Ul Haq, Asia Ashfaq, Muhammad Saud, Abdullah Ibrahim","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09892-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09892-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The present study has explored the folk knowledge about the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in Pakistani society. The research aimed to gain a nuanced glimpse focusing on three major factors, culture, religion, and gender, that influence the lived experiences of those who face sleep paralysis. In this qualitative research, to have a holistic perception of indigenous knowledge about it, we selected both male and female participants who have experienced sleep paralysis. The findings indicate that there is an influence of Pakistani culture and religion regarding the experiences of the people with sleep paralysis, and gender is linked with the folklore on creatures that were linked to fairy tales and Islamic teachings. The study also revealed that Pakistani ethnic diversity has created a pool of versatility for identifying different experiences regarding sleep paralysis. These experiences were not just a part of the medical situation but portrayed the multicultural facets that are embedded in the individuals throughout their lives. Lastly, the study suggests that there is a complexity within the interactions between culture, religion, and gender on sleep paralysis. This needs to be further investigated to create culturally appropriate therapies that may have a favorable effect on both physical and mental health outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143042196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Chinese in France amid the Covid-19 Pandemic: Daily Lives, Racial Struggles and Transnational Citizenship of Migrants and Descendants, edited by Simeng Wang: Brill, 2023, 365 pp. : Redefining Anti-Asian Racism among Chinese Diaspora in France during the COVID-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Sabrina Lin","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09890-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09890-4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143014014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When Resources Become Stressors: Dynamics of the Stress Process in the Flint Water Crisis.","authors":"Courtney Cuthbertson, Jennifer Lai","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09887-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09887-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Disasters create and intensify stress for communities, with many factors contributing to how that stress results in mental health outcomes. Guided by the stress process model, this article presents findings from a qualitative investigation of the meaning of stress among community leaders in the context of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six community leaders in Flint and analyzed using grounded theory techniques. Secondary stressors such as necessary changes to everyday routines, being discredited by government officials, and perceptions of a lack of government action and accountability were perceived to impact the community's mental health, with potentially more influence than the impact of the primary stressor of contaminated water. Findings indicate that both stressors and coping resources evolve with profound intrapersonal impact, such that proposed social coping resources become stressors when they do not meet individual or community needs or expectations.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142956755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When Multispecies Ethnography Encounters a Shelter-Based Clinic: Uncovering Ecological Factors for Cultural Psychiatry.","authors":"Vincent Laliberté","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09883-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11013-024-09883-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Through a longstanding collaboration, psychiatrists and anthropologists have assessed the impact of sociocultural context on mental health and elaborated the concept of culture in psychiatry. However, recent developments in ecological anthropology may have untapped potential for cultural psychiatry. This paper aims to uncover how \"ecologies\" inform patients' and clinicians' experiences, as well as their intersubjective relationships. Drawing on my ethnography with Jerome, a carriage driver who became my patient in a shelter-based psychiatric clinic, and on anthropological work about how psychic life is shaped ecologically, I describe how more-than-human relationality and the affordances of various places-a clinic and a stable-influenced both Jerome's well-being and my perceptions as a clinician. I also explore how these ecologies shaped our different roles, including my dual roles as psychiatrist and ethnographer. In the discussion, I define ecological factors, describe their implications for clinical practice, and suggest how they could be integrated into DSM's cultural formulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":"875-899"},"PeriodicalIF":16.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142382048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vaishali V Raval, Baiju Gopal, Pankhuri Aggarwal, Miriam Priti Mohan, P Padmakumari, Elizabeth Thomas, Aaron M Luebbe, M Cameron Hay
{"title":"Training in Cultural Competence for Mental Health Care: A Mixed-Methods Study of Students, Faculty, and Practitioners from India and USA.","authors":"Vaishali V Raval, Baiju Gopal, Pankhuri Aggarwal, Miriam Priti Mohan, P Padmakumari, Elizabeth Thomas, Aaron M Luebbe, M Cameron Hay","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09867-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11013-024-09867-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although the need to train clinicians to provide effective mental health care to individuals from diverse backgrounds has been recognized worldwide, a bulk of what we know about training in cultural competence (CC) is based on research conducted in the United States. Research on CC in mental health training from different world populations is needed due to the context-dependent nature of CC. Focusing on India and USA, two diverse countries that provide complementary contexts to examine CC, we explored graduate students', practicing clinicians', and faculty members' perspectives regarding CC training they received/provided and future training needs using mixed-methods. The data were collected using focus groups (n = 25 groups total: 15 in India, 11 in USA), and a survey (n = 800: 450 in India, 350 in USA). Our data highlight the salient social identities in these countries, and the corresponding constituents of CC training. Participants in India described a practical emphasis to their CC training (e.g., learning about CC through life experiences and clinical practice experiences) more so than through coursework, whereas participants in USA described varying levels of coursework related to CC along with practice. Participants in both countries considered enormity of CC as a challenge, while those in the US also identified CC training limited to a white, straight, male perspective, hesitancy in engaging with diversity topics, and limited time and competence of the faculty. Strengths of CC training in India and USA are mutually informative in generating recommendations for enhancing the training in both countries.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":"699-730"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11570552/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141493869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Medical Returnees: Somali Canadians Seeking Psychosocial and Spiritual Care in East Africa.","authors":"Mohamed Ibrahim","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09869-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11013-024-09869-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The refugee experience has been associated with increased rates of psychosocial challenges. At the same time, evidence suggests that those who resettled in Western countries including Canada underutilize the formal mental health services in these countries. The low uptake has been attributed to barriers such as language, complexity of the health systems, and differing explanatory models of illness. The same is true for Somali refugees in the West. Studies suggest that Somali refugees prefer spiritual healing for psychosocial illness and that some return to East Africa for such healing. However, little is known about Somali Canadian's experiences with the Canadian mental health services and transnational health seeking. The study aimed to understand psychosocial challenges faced by Somali Canadians, their health seeking behaviors, and service utilization. Because some sought psychosocial services outside the country, fieldwork was conducted in Kenya to provide new evidence on transnational healing services. Ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews were utilized. Thirty-seven interviews of about an hour each were undertaken. Fieldwork in Nairobi focused on spiritual healing centers and medical clinic. The findings reveal important findings regarding psychosocial challenges experienced by participants. It discusses psychosocial illnesses as variedly experienced, challenges with accessing Canadian healthcare services, and seeking culturally appropriate services in East Africa. The study highlights participants and their families struggle with psychosocial distress, the challenges of accessing culturally appropriate services within Canada, the role of spiritual healers and the existence of transnational health seeking practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":"731-746"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141555718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah Mars, Jeff Ondocsin, Kimberly A Koester, Valerie Mars, Gerald Mars, Daniel Ciccarone
{"title":"\"I Heard of PrEP-I Didn't Think I Needed it.\" Understanding the Formation of HIV Risk Perception Among People Who Inject Drugs.","authors":"Sarah Mars, Jeff Ondocsin, Kimberly A Koester, Valerie Mars, Gerald Mars, Daniel Ciccarone","doi":"10.1007/s11013-024-09870-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11013-024-09870-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) to prevent HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) remains extremely low in the United States. West Virginia's rising HIV incidence and highest drug overdose rate in the nation makes it an important locus for opioid use and HIV risk interaction. In this pilot study we pioneered the use of Cultural Theory among PWID to understand HIV-related risk perception arising from four contrasting modes of social organization. Carried out during an HIV outbreak, we explored PrEP uptake qualitatively as a window onto risk perception. Of the 26 interviewees, 18 were HIV- and despite the medication's free availability from the health center where recruitment took place, none had taken PrEP, half considering they were not at risk. Intimate couples who showed characteristics of 'enclaves' considered the boundary around themselves protective against HIV, creating a safe space or 'invisible risk group'. Higher HIV risk was perceived among those who were housed compared to those living homeless. Beliefs about the causation of the local HIV outbreak and the validity of scientific research corresponded with characteristics of the contrasting modes of social organization and the approach is promising for informing public health interventions among PWID.</p>","PeriodicalId":47634,"journal":{"name":"Culture Medicine and Psychiatry","volume":" ","pages":"747-767"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11570555/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141617371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}