Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Interplay of Culture and Subjectivity in Shaping Responses to Mental Illness

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

University of California, San Diego, Doctoral student Charlotte van den Hout, with the guidance of Dr. Steven M. Parish, will investigate the impact of the socio-cultural environment on personal experiences of mental illness. The research will explore how culture and society shape conceptions of illness; how illness, treatment, and their cultural meanings impact the sufferer's sense of self and relationship to the social environment; and how cultural conceptions of illness are employed by the sufferer when coping with distress and seeking catharsis. This research on the socio-cultural dimensions of psychological distress will contribute to improved understanding of human cognitive universals and culturally specific variations. The research will be carried out among Muslim women in Morocco using a comparative research design. Van den Hout will collect data on women's interaction with two different sources of treatment for psychological distress: a psychiatric hospital that identifies and treats mental disorders according to the bio-medical, DSM-IV manual of diagnostic criteria, and a center for spiritual healing that takes part in a heterodox Islamic cult of spirit possession and saint worship. The researcher will observe treatment sessions and will interview psychiatrists and healers. She also will carry out intensive life-history interviews with patients at both sites. Finally, the researcher will conduct a brief diagnostic interview with each patient, in order to enable comparison of patient experiences at the two sites. This research will contribute to better insight into the cultural dimension of illness experience and treatment-seeking behavior. Findings will inform cross-cultural social science illness theory as well as policy makers and professionals in the field of global healthcare. Funding this research also supports the education of a social scientist.