Anthropology flash cards

Bistiat alemu Woldesemayiat

Chapter 7
What did Jane Goodall witness when the polio
epidemic hit chimpanzees ?
A group of healthy chimpanzees isolated and did
not help the stricken animal reach the feeding
area
Ethno medicine
The study of cross-cultural health systems
What does a health system encompass?
Perceptions, classifications of health problems,
prevention measures ,diagnosis, and
healing(magical,
religious,scientifc,healingsubstances
How has ethno medicine changed ?
 It has expanded its focus to include topics such as
perceptions of the body ,culture and disability and
change in indigenous or traditional healing systems as a
result of globalization
What was ethno medicine synonymous with in
the 1960’s
It was synonymous with primitive medicine
Western biomed
 A healing approach based on modern western
science that emphasizes technology for
diagnosing and treating health problems related
to the human body
Why does Japan have much lower rate of organ
transplants and surgery
Because of gotai
What is “gotai”
 Japanese concept that refers to the ideal of
maintaining bodily intactness in life and death
..to the extent of not piercing your ears
Who was Naruhaito ?
He was the crowned prince in Japan and one of
his stipulations for a wife was that she not have
pierced ears
What does an intact body ensure for the
Japanese
it ensures rebirth
What was the ultimate form of killing for
Japanese warrior?
 To behead their victim because it violated the
integrity of the body and prevented the enemy’s
rebirth
What is considered more primitive in north
eastern Brazil by women
Vaginal childbirth
Why is it considered primitive
Because it is seen as painful abs destructive to a
woman's sexuality
What did one doctor say that the vulva and
vagina are becoming for Brazilian females
becoming organs of sexuality and not parturition
What do doctor usually recommend in Brazil ?
(caesarian or natural )
 They recommend caesarian because they say it
is safe, practical and causes no esthetic damage
What do Euro-Americans believe about that mind
and body that is in contrast to other cultures
That there is a separation of the mind and body
and that is why a category in western med.
Called mental illness exists.
What about the brain based definition does
western medicine accept ?
 That a person can be declared dead while the
heart is still beating so long as the brain is seen
as dead
What Brazil has the most extreme______?
Economic and social inequity's
Brazil has ___states is the _____ and most
_____country in Latin America
Brazil has 26 states is the LARGEST and most
POPULOUS country in Latin America
disease
Refers to the biological health problem that is
objective and universal , such as bacterial or
viral infection or a broken arm
Illness
Refers to the culturally specific perception and
experinceon helath
What are the bases for labeling and classfying a
helath problem
Cause , vector ( the means of transmission i.e.
mosquito), affected body part, symptoms, or
combo of these
Describe the study of the Subanun?
the subanun were horticulturist living in the 1950’s in the
highlands of Mindanao , in the Philippines. All the people
there have substantial knowledge of health problems of
there 186 labels for health problems some terms can be
expanded on by using adjectives. ( i.e. splotchy itch ) skin
disease is common there thus has several degrees of
specificity
Some facts about the Philippines
Comprised of over 7000 islands of which 700 are
occupied over 170 languages are spoken
although English and Filipino are the main ones
What is the ( ICD)
International Classification of Diseases
 A major source for coding health problems according
to western biomedical standards but is somewhat
inadequate for example it would have been useless in
classifying cause of death of those who perished
during 9/11
Culture specific syndrome
A health problem with a set of symptoms
associated with particular culture
What are the usual underlying cause of culture
specific shock
Fear stress or shock
Somarization
Also known as embodiment, refers to the process
through which the body absorbs social stress
and manifests symptoms of suffering
Selective cultural specific syndrome look on
chapter 7 pg 167
Ethno etiologies
Culturally specific casual explanations for health
problems and suffering
Structural suffering
Human health helath problems caused by economic
and political situations as war
Ethno-etiologies
Culturally specific casual explanations for health
problems and suffering
Among the urban poor of northeastern Brazil
people consider several casual possibilities
..what are they ?
Natural , socioeconomic,psychological,or
supernatural
The people of feira de Santana believe in several
levels of causality ..what are they and give an
example
In the case of stomach ache they migh blame a
quarrel ( unerlying casue) which prompted the
aggrieved party to cast a spell (immediate
cause), which led to the resulting illness
What is sufriendo del agua
 Siffering from water . In poor valley in Mexico shows
that is a common health problem amongst women in
Mexico the cause is the lack of water for drinking,
cooking or washing. The insecurity of not having
water makes these women very anxious
What does the lack of water in these poor valleys
show ?
 Structural disorder /cause because the wealthier
urban neighborhoods have a supply of water for
irrigation and industrial projects. 1/3 of the pop. has
inadequate access to water
What is awas?
 A common childhood illness , symptoms :lumps
under skin , marks on skin , or albinism .People
say that the events that happen to the mother
during pregnancy cause this..like she had been
denied food or been pressured to eat when she
did not want to. To prevent this Maya people are
very considerate of pregnant women
What did the anthropologist in Northern Thailand
discover?
 He/she learned about health protection practice carved
wooden phalluses throughout the village b/c in 1990 fear
of an attack by a widow ghost spread throughout the
area.. Based off of reports of deaths of unexplained deaths
of Singapore workmen .People thought that it was because
of a widow ghost roam about searching men to take as
their “husbands "and with whom they have sexual
intercourse with.
What are “phii”
These are the spirits
What is the distinction between private healing
and community healing
 Private healing addresses bodily ailments in social
isolation/community healing encompasses the social
context as crucial to healing non western use community
healing an example is Ju/’honasi foragers of the Kalahari
desert in S. Africa emphasize the mobilization of
community energy as a key element in the cure : the idea
num ( spiritual energy )
Does community healing work?
 Yes, on both levels of ethnic and western terms , the
dance of the Johansi creates a support system and may
act to strengthen the ill
What is humoral healing based on the philosophy
of balance among certain elements within the
body and within the persons environment.
What does heating and cooling mean in these
systems
 The effects on the body by different things like
food or drugs. When there is an imbalance of too
much heating or cooling then that is the disease
Where has humoral healing been practiced in
what countries/cultures?
Middle East , the Mediterranean, and much of
Asia
How does the ideas of hotness and coolness in
the Orang Asli indigenous culture differs how
from the Indian, Islamic, or Chinese humorless.
For example in I,I,C culture death is the result of too much
coolness but Orang Asi believe it is because of excessive
heat In their view heat comes from the suna nd is
associated with shit,blood, misfortune, disease and death.
Heat cause ,periods, violent emotional and drunkenness .
Coolness is vital to health, staying in the forest avoid the
sun not doing agricultural work. but too much coolness I
not good either new mothers will sleep near the fire and
use warm leaves as sashes
Shaman/shmanka
Male or female healer
Phototherapy
Healing thru the use of plants
Criteria for being a healer
Look on page 172
How is midwifery endangered?
 Ex. Costa Rica recently the govt promoted hospital
births .. Achieved a 98% success rate. However , now
midwives cant support themselves and abandoning
there profession .. Promotion of hospital births has
destroyed a positive element of community
based midwifery
CULTRAMA!!! Who are the tsimane
 They are foraging horticultural society of Bolivia in the
northeastern Amazon region. A study was conducted to so
correlation betwn mothers knowledge of botany and child
helath did three tests C-reactive protein test , skin fold
thickness and stature and height..results showed strong
correlation between mothers knowledge and Childs
health . important when taking into consideration herbal
remedies. In contrast those who had formal schooling had
little to none knowledge of Childs health
Bolivia is the _____country
in South America
Poorest
Phytotherapy
Healing through the use of
plants
What is Mate?
 A medicinal beverage
used for different things
like asthma
 Ecological and
epidemiological approach
Examines how aspects of the
natural environment interact
with culture to cause health
problems and to influence
their spread throughout the
population , usually
quantities and etic
 Example of use of
approach in the book
 Hookworms is common in
china but with
epidemiological research we
learn that rice cultivators
have the highest rate
because hookworms can
spread thru night soil
( feces) which is used in the
fields
 what did the study of the
two groups of Turkana men
in NW Kenya show
 One is mobile other is not,Pastorlist Turkena ate mostly milk
bread and blood did rigorous activity and live in large families
the settled Turkana men ate mainly maize an beans , less
activity and exercise and had more health problems ( eye
infections, chest infections, backaches and colds/coughs)
What is historical trauma ?
Refers to intergenerational
transfer of emotional and
psychological effects of
colonialism from parents to
children
 What does cultural
medical anthropology
focus on ?
On structural factors such
as global political
economy, global media
and social in equity
What is medicalization ?
Labeling a particular issue
or problem as medical and
requing medical attetnion
such as pill or injections
when it is structural
What does evidence show
about poverty
It is the primary cause of
morbidity and mortality in
both industralized and
developed countries
Technological model of
birth
The model treats the body
as machine ex. Western to
delivering apporach
 What is Davis –Flyods
research points to the
reasons why doctors
accept the model
Physical hazing, cognitive
retrogression,and
dehumanization
What heappened in the
1980’s intersm of new
infectious disease
HIV/AIDS
Disease of development
 A health problems caused
or increased by economic
development ex. In crease
construction of dams and
irrigation system in the
tropical world increased
schistosomiasis
What is schistosomiasis
 eggs and mature in the
slow –moving water such
as lakes and rivers. When
they mature they can
penterate in to human
skin breed in the veins
and baldder and bowel
and then fertilize eggs
through urine and feces
into the environment
What is Kyasanur Forest
Disease
 First identified in 1957 in
India marekd by a sudden
chills , fever,
headaches(etc.) Diarrhea
and gastrointestional
bleeding then in bad cases
in can become paralysis ,
encephalitis and meningtis
How did this disease
transmit
 It affected agricultural
workers b/c it was the
cleared forest that
affected the workers b/c of
th e ticks .Becasue of the
cleared land the ticks had
more hosts
Medical plurism
Refers to the presence of
multiple health system
within a society
 The Shera Nepal have an
unusal example of a
culture in which they have
both tradtional healing
systems and biomedical
(western).. Give the 3
categories
 Orthodox Buddhist
practioners , which include
Lamsa who Khumbu
people consult for
prevention and cure thru
their blessing and amchis ,
who practice Tibetin
med.a humoral healing
system
 Unorthdax religious or
shamanic practioners who
perform divintion
ceremonies for diagnosis
 Biomedical practitioners
who work in a clinc was
establishedfo tourist but
now Sherpa slectiviely use
it
Why hasn’t this society
been completely taken
over by western
biomedical ideals?
 High mountain tourism
does not require does not
require large scale capital
investment/ the sherpa
maintain control of their
productive resources
,including trekking
knowledge
 Give an example of
conflicting explanatory
model
The “f family” immigrants from american samoa
living in Hawii. Children are moderately lierate
but parents don’t spek english . Child ws stricken
with diabetes after irregular visits father was
charge with causin mary’s death . Doctor say
that the cultural difference was the main
problem . Each time Mray came back she
developed blindness and catracts after they had
missed three appts. The families persepective
was 1st . There experince in the hosptial was
bad.They did not consult one doctor but several
then they saw a child die while Mary was in the
ICU. They were also confused about the use of
the word “sugar”. And the 12 yr old child
assisteed her sister with the injections b/c by
that age your not a child
Appiled medical anth
The application of anth knowledge to further
goals of health care providersby applying
ethnomedical knowledge and on sny of the 3
theortical approaches
What is reducing lead poisoning among mexican
american children anexample of ?
Appiled anthropolog
 What are the most 3
common sources of lead
posioning
 the dust has high lead
content and eating from
pottery made with an
imporperly treated lead
glaze
What was the fourth discvoered reason
Tradtional healing method called azaron , which
contains lead to treat a culture specfic syndrome
called empacho
What is empacho?
Empacho is comob indigestion and constipation
believed to casued by food or sticking to the
abodminal wall
What cauranderos?
They are tradtional healers
Who is trotter?
 down by the U.S. public
health service he
discovered the problem and
made other
recommendations for
remedies and found
cultrally specfic ways to
advertise it.
 What methods are used by anthroplogist to
better help health edcuator to deveop better
messages
 Addressing local health beliefs and health
concerns,considerate of all local illnesses and
conventions ,adopting local styles of
communication, identifying subgroups that may
be responsive to the messages or incentives,
monitoring the response of conities , and
exposing and removing victim blaming from
health message
What do those who oppose tradtional med say ?
 They say that it has no
effect on ifectious diseases
like cholerabut t.med say
that bio-med ignores
mind ,soul,and social
settings