Discussion: Cultural Influences on Psychological Conditions

Cultures have different views of understanding psychological disorders and psychological maladjustment. For instance, some cultures may view psychological conditions resulting from a bio-medical condition such as a brain condition. Other cultures view psychological conditions deriving from psychosocial stressors from social causes. Still other cultures combine multiple explanations. For this reason, as a working professional, it will be important for you to understand how culture influences the way psychological conditions are treated. For this Discussion, you will examine the influence of culture on psychological conditions or treatments.

To Prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider a psychological condition or treatment you are unfamiliar with and the culture in which it occurs.

By Day 4

Post and describe a psychological condition or treatment that was unfamiliar to you. Then, explain why you think this condition or treatment occurs in the culture you read about but not in others, that you know about.  

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Hwang, W., Myers, H. F., Abe-Kim, J., & Ting, J. Y. (2008). A conceptual paradigm for understanding culture's impact on mental health: The cultural influences on mental health (CIMH) model. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(2), 211–227. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2007.05.00.

Abi-Hashem, N.  (2018). Trauma, coping, resiliency among Syrian refugees in Lebanon and beyond. In G. Rich & S. Sirikantraporn (Eds.), Human strengths and resilience: Developmental, cross-cultural, and international Perspectives (pp. 105–124).Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Credit Line: Human Strengths and Resilience: Developmental, Cross-Cultural, and International Perspectives, by Rich, G.; Sirikantraporn, S. Copyright 2018 by Lexington Books. Reprinted by permission of Lexington Books via the Copyright Clearance Center. 

Draguns, J. G., & Tanaka-Matsumi, J. (2003). Assessment of psychopathology across and within cultures: Issues and findings. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41(7), 755–776.

Lewis-Fernandez, R., & Kleinman, A. (1988). Culture, personality, and psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103(1), 67–71.

Lopez, S. R., & Guarnaccia, P. J. J. (2000). Cultural psychopathology: Uncovering the social world of mental illness. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 571–598

Ryder, A. G., Yang, J., & Heine, S. J. (2002). Somatization vs. psychologization of emotional distress: A paradigmatic example for cultural psychopathology. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 10(3).

Credit Line: International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, & Ryder, A. G.; Yang, J.; Heine, S. J. (2002). Somatization vs. Psychologization of Emotional Distress: A Paradigmatic Example for Cultural Psychopathology. Retrieved from ​https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1080&context=orpc​. Used with permission of International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Optional Resources

Kleinman, A. (1982). Neurasthenia and depression: A study of somatization and culture in China. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 6(2), 117–190. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00051427

Lewis-Fernandez, R., et al. (2014). Culture and psychiatric evaluation: Operationalizing cultural formulation for DSM-5. Psychiatry, 77(2), 130–154.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Sirikantraporn, S., Rich, G., & Jafari, N. (2018). The concept of posttraumatic growth in a Cambodian sample: A grounded theory study. In G. Rich & S. Sirikantraporn (Eds.), Human strengths and resilience: Developmental, cross-cultural, and international perspectives (pp. 39–58).Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.