title: Anthropology and psychiatric epidemiology.
abstract: Psychiatric epidemiologic research has been criticized by anthropologists for ignoring cultural variation in the definitions of psychiatric disorders. While recognizing the importance of this issue, it is suggested here that a considerable amount of ethnographic evidence indicates that many types of comparative effort can be carried out without cultural injustice. It is also urged that anthropologists provide a system for classifying cultures so as to foster an understanding of the ways in which shared beliefs and meanings can influence psychiatric illness. Categorizing populations as Western versus Non-Western or Developed versus Developing is inadequate as a basis for studying the cultural context of psychiatric illness in different parts of the world.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Department of Epidemiology Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012106:Research; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology