Aliens and Alienists: Ethnic Minorities and Psychiatry

ISBN-13: 9780415157254 / Angielski / Miękka / 1997 / 368 str.

Roland Littlewood; Maurice Lipsedge

Opis

In this revised edition, the authors assess the psychological consequences of migration and prejudice for groups as diverse as West Indians, Turkish Cypriots and Hasidic Jews. Combining theoretical perspectives from the areas of psychiatry and social anthropology, they examine the epidemiology of mental ill health among ethnic minorities and black Britons, and conclude that mental illness can be an intelligible response to disadvantage and prejudice. The new concluding chapter to this standard text reviews the development of transcultural psychiatry in Britain and summarizes recent changes in the administration of the Mental Health Act. The authors illustrate how the racist bias that exists in psychiatric theory and diagnosis has resulted in inadequate and poorly-researched treatment of patients from ethnic minorities, and argue that endemic prejudices should be examined and challenged by professionals engaged in treating and caring for the mentally ill.

Recenzje

Comments from previous edition:

'An important exploration of the cross-cultural currents, misunderstandings and plain prejudices that riddle psychiatry and this society as well.' - New Statesman

'Beautifully written, contextually rich and eloquent.' - Journal of Operational Psychiatry

'Essential reading.' - Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine

'Essential reading for all mental health workers.' - New Forum

'Essential reading for psychiatric nurses.' - Nursing Mirror

'Sensitively written and easy to read.' - The Lancet

'Mandatory reading ...for everyone working in the health and social services.' - Anthony Clare, New Society

Spis treści

1 Ethnic minorities and the psychiatrist 2 Medicine and racism 3 The question of black depression 4 Mental illness among immigrants to Britain 5 A digression on diagnosis 6 The price of adaptation 7 Sick societies 8 A prelude to insanity? 9 Normal and abnormal 10 The illness as a communication 11 Some conclusions 12 The development of ‘transcultural psychiatry’ in Britain 1982–96

O autorze

Roland Littlewood is Professor of Anthropology and Psychiatry at University College London. Maurice Lipsedge is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer at Guy’s Hospital, London.