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Cultural and ethnic factors in health

from Psychology, health and illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
John W. Berry  and
David L. Sam
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
John W. Berry
Affiliation:
Queen's University
David L. Sam
Affiliation:
University of Bergen
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
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Summary

Introduction

Understanding how cultural and ethnic factors relate to health is very much an interdisciplinary enterprise: anthropology, biology, economics, history, medicine, nursing, psychiatry, psychology, rehabilitation and sociology have all participated in the study and application of their own concepts and findings to health. The focus of this chapter however, will be on the contributions of anthropology (‘medical anthropology’: see e.g. Brown, 1998; Foster & Anderson, 1978; Hahn, 1999; Helman, 2000), psychiatry (‘trans-cultural psychiatry’: see e.g. Kleinman, 1980; Murphy, 1981; Tseng, 2001; Yap, 1974) and psychology (‘cross-cultural psychology’: see, e.g. Dasen et al., 1988). In particular, because of the placement of this chapter in the section on ‘Psychology, health and illness’, and the background of the authors, the approach will be from the perspective of cross-cultural health psychology (Kazarian & Evans, 2001; MacLachlan, 2001; MacLachlan & Mulatu, 2004).

The field of cross-cultural health psychology can be divided into two related domains. The earlier, more established, domain is the study of how cultural factors influence various aspects of health. This enterprise has taken place around the globe, driven by the need to understand individual and community health in the context of the indigenous cultures of the people being examined and served. The second, more recent and very active, domain is the study of the health of individuals and groups as they settle into, and adapt to, new cultural circumstances, as a result of their migration, and the persistence of their original cultures in the form of ethnicity.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 64 - 70
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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