Trauma and the Kanun: two responses to loss in Albania and Kosova.
Social anthropology has proposed that social institutions and psychological reactions may at times be alternative ways of dealing with similar situations; and that at a high level of generality, they may be conceived of as variants of similar (psycho-social) phenomena. Response to sudden bereavement in Albanian Kosova may follow two routes: the customary law arguing stoicism but retribution, and the psychological idiom of 'trauma' recently introduced by Western European aid agencies. Similarities and differences between what at first appear two quite distinct responses are outlined.
Littlewood
Roland
R
Department of Anthropology, University College London.
D000415:Albania / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015022:Yugoslavia / Q000453:epidemiology