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

加州大学圣地亚哥分校，博士生夏洛特货车登豪特，与博士的指导。教区，将调查社会文化环境对精神疾病的个人经历的影响。研究将探讨文化和社会如何塑造疾病的概念;疾病、治疗及其文化意义如何影响患者的自我意识和与社会环境的关系;以及患者在应对痛苦和寻求宣泄时如何使用疾病的文化概念。对心理困扰的社会文化层面的研究将有助于更好地理解人类认知的共性和文化的具体差异。这项研究将在摩洛哥的穆斯林妇女中进行，采用比较研究设计。货车登豪特将收集关于妇女与两种不同的心理困扰治疗来源互动的数据：一家精神病医院，根据生物医学、DSM-4诊断标准手册识别和治疗精神障碍;一家精神治疗中心，参与非正统的伊斯兰精神占有和圣徒崇拜。研究人员将观察治疗过程，并采访精神科医生和治疗师。她还将在这两个地点对患者进行密集的生活史采访。最后，研究者将对每位患者进行简短的诊断性访谈，以便比较两个地点的患者经历，这一研究将有助于更好地了解疾病经历和寻求治疗行为的文化维度。研究结果将为跨文化社会科学疾病理论以及全球医疗保健领域的政策制定者和专业人士提供信息。资助这项研究也支持社会科学家的教育。

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.