Imperialism instilled a feeling of inferiority among colonized populations. In certain instances, this feeling of inferiority has developed into a more complex psychological network of hatred and violence. Over the course of history, powerful western nations constantly invaded the weaker nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Subjugating the people and turning them into subservient populations, western powers oppressed these populations. The oppression then resulted in the transformation of the psychology of the oppressed. The prevailing injustice and the inequality between the colonizer and the colonized, consequently results in a mentality that rationalizes violence and hatred. Such mentality stems from the feeling of prejudice exercised by the colonizer. Frantz Fanon, a French psychiatrist, explores the plethora of mental disorders that afflicted many Algerians from years of fighting against the French colonial rule. During the time of liberation, Fanon describes the war as a total war, a situation achieved only after heightened frustrations and one in which all members of society are affected and, therefore involved in. In essence, colonialism does not merely control a foreign territory, but it also controls the consciousness of the population. As observed in the aggressive behavior of the French colonists towards Algerians, power and violence play an important role in influencing the psychiatric disorders in oppressed populations.
While the age of imperialism is presumably over, the age of globalization continued the legacy. In essence, globalization serves as a softer euphemism for colonialism. These oppressed populations are still stripped off their identities due to the overwhelming influence of the op...
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...olonial era and the beginning of globalization, western nations felt the need to spread their culture to non-western communities. After all, the ‘superior’ western culture could only help the backward culture of non-western populations to advance. Simultaneously, this led to the spread of western methods of treatment to many parts of the world in an effort to homogenize diagnosis and treatment. As observed in Indonesia, Algeria and Sri Lanka, local context played a major role in influencing psychiatric disorders. The symptomology exhibited in those three cases contrasts with established western thought. Despite the differences, the west always feels the need to extend its ideas to non-western context in order to maintain its influence. Undermining the local culture by reorienting their beliefs of trauma is the western attempt to homogenize psychiatric thought.
Lisa Lowe’s introduction on the word “globalization” was interesting as it reminded me of the readings and lectures regarding colonization of the United States. Globalization is described conditions that increased economic, social, and political interdependence among people. The article allows for comparisons to be made with eighteenth century America. For example, the arrival of English colonists led to a change in the North American landscape. This could also be described as an invasion of native land as colonists felt the land belonged to them. Similarly, Globalization also mentions American invasion in the context of the conflicts against Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition, both seventeenth and twentieth century America appear to some effect
As an expat child having gown up and lived across three continents-politely labelled as a third culture kid, but in reality not belonging to any one culture-I doubt if my own parents would understand me let alone a doctor in another country. My mother suffers from trichotillomania and on visiting a psychiatrist in a foreign country, he mentioned not seeing this disease often in his country: he had made her feel at once both alienated and awkward, and not likely to trust his diagnosis or his treatment. I have seen her throwing her medication away- Pharmacotherapy cannot work without psychotherapy-and the demands of psychotherapy seem to be only increasing when you add a complex cultural element to it. Gold and his brother argue that both biological and social factors contribute to psychosis. In the field of psychiatric and behavioural sciences this would call for physicians skilled in appreciating all sorts of cultures and environments and while this may seem a tall order, a first step towards a solution would lie in acknowledging the role and importance of such external stimuli. Doctors cannot know it all but at least when they give a label it will be real. In a field where labels tend to stick and where the social stigma attached to mental illness is still considerable, it is worth while for doctors to make more informed diagnoses. Diagnoses that we can
Culture is a collection of religion, traditions, and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture is created and maintained through the repetition of stories and behavior. It is never definite because it is continuously being modified to match current trends, however, historical principles are still relevant. With respect to mental illness, culture is crucial to how people choose to deal with society and the methods used to diagnose and cope with mental illnesses. In Watters’ The Mega-Marketing Depression of Japan, he focuses on how Japan and other cultures define depression, but also displays how the influence of American treatments in eastern countries eventually becomes the international standards. Even though the
From what I have learned so far it appears that contemporary society has responded to the legacies of historical globalization, yet it hasn’t done quite enough to satisfy the concerned and affected. I would have to disagree to this statement, there are still some problems I believe needing to be addressed.
The term globalization varies from person to person. A consumer typically associates globalization with a store producing more goods, stocking inventory, and updating their styles, however; an anthropological definition of globalization is, “the worldwide intensification of interactions and increased movement of money, people, goods, and ideas within and across national borders,” (Guest, 19). Globalization of the clothing industry is about the “search of cheap, reliable labor to meet the industry’s tight margins,” (Timmerman 7). Timmerman suggests that globalization change our lives and can be for the good or for the bad (8). Globalization is often viewed as a mutual and beneficial process for those involved, because it is perceived as helping those out who are in poverty get a job and make money for their families. On the other hand, it is viewed as a horrific way to abuse individuals in different countries by paying them tremendously trifling wages, working in strident conditions, and overall being treated inadequately by the factory owners. United States corporations exploit different countries around the world such as, China, Indonesia, Mexico and
Being raised in Ghana, receiving higher education in England and working as a professor in the United States certainly helped Kwame Anthony Appiah receive a fair share of different cultures. Appiah is a recognized philosopher with several published books and an impressive track record of accomplishments. His article The Case for Contamination, which was published in The New York Times, speaks on the topic of how globalization affects individuals in many aspects of their life. He discusses how forcefully preserving cultures can harm a culture more than help it. While the article is lengthy, it goes into great detail about how globalization affects people in countries all over the world, even Ghana. Globalization makes a large impact on the world we see today and cultural groups can benefit from the effects of globalization because it promotes diversity, creates cosmopolitan citizen development, and allows economic growth.
The origins of globalization can be traced many centuries back; however the initial date remains a highly controversial issue amongst historians to this day. Nonetheless, one fact is coherent; it played a big influence during the formation of collective identity group’s legacies. In addition, European monarchs also impacted many cultural groups through their quest for imperialism during the “Age of Discovery”. The following quote does an excellent job illustrating the consequences of European expansion. “Europe’s encounter with and treatment of the world’s tribal people is, a tale of extraordinary human achievement in adversity, conferring on the victors much of the possession of the worlds resources.” To reiterate, European expansion was
A culture’s view of depression differs from one another. For example, cross-cultural psychiatrists have found that depression can be expressed in somatic and emotional terms, ‘“In “somaticizing cultures, “depressive experiences may be expressed as complaints of weakness, tiredness, ‘imbalance’ (Chinese and Asian cultures), ‘nerves’ and headaches (in Latino and Mediterranean cultures)…”’ Due to the diversity of experiences within the different cultures, there is no universal entity incorporating all views of culture in defining depression. The views of a culture toward mental disorders have a great impact on the prevalence of certain individuals within a culture compared to another culture. For example, Japan has a significantly lower prevalence depression rate compared to the United States, “the World Health Survey Initiative estimated a twelve-month prevalence of mood disorders to be around 3.1% in Japan compared with 9.6% in the United States.” The concept of “depression” is the factor to account for in this difference of vulnerability.
Culture has a huge influence on how people view and deal with psychological disorders. Being able to successfully treat someone for a mental illness has largely to do with what they view as normal in their own culture. In Western cultures we think that going to a counselor to talk about our emotions or our individual problems and/or getting some type of drug to help with our mental illness is the best way to overcome and treat it, but in other cultures that may not be the case. In particular Western and Asian cultures vary in the way they deal with psychological disorders. In this paper I am going to discuss how Asian cultures and Western cultures are similar and different in the way they view psychological disorders, the treatments and likelihood of getting treatment, culture bound disorders, and how to overcome the differences in the cultures for optimal treatments.
The social problem we have chosen to address is the mental health status of refugees. Refugees are exposed to a significant amount of trauma due to fear, war, persecution, torture, and relocating. The mental health illnesses that can affect refugees due to exposure to traumas include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Research indicated that refugees relocating from war-torn countries are particularly vulnerable to mental health concerns because many have experienced early traumas and face further post-traumas after relocation (Cummings, et al., 2011). However, despite the prevalence of mental health issues concerning refugees, mental health needs often go unrecognized and untreated.
Today we will discuss how culture impacted on Kurdish community mental health. Kurds are an ethnic group who was originated in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Many Turks immigrated to the other parts of the world to get away from the violence in their native countries and to secure a safe future for their children. Countries like Australia and Canada provide medical data on Kurd’s mental health. This data compares the information between the Kurds who immigrated and the ones that were born in these countries. Many immigrated Kurds have rep...
In Sherman Alexie’s novel Indian Killer, there are many characters who struggle with mental disorders. Alexie states “She was manic-depressive and simply couldn’t take care of herself,” this is just one of the mental illnesses suffered in the book (212). Mental disorders are prevalent in the United States. All races are at risk of mental illness. In the article "Mental Health and Substance Abuse Characteristics Among a Clinical Sample of Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Youths in a Large California Metropolitan Area: a Descriptive Study" Daniel Dickerson and Carrie Johnson state “AI/ANs [American Indians/ Alaska Native] between the ages of 15 and 24 have the highest suicide rates in the United States compared to other racial/ethnic groups” (Dickerson and Johnson, 56). Native Americans are highly perceptible to mental illness due to the historical trauma their culture has endured.
Embittered by his experience in the French Army, where Africans and Arabs answered to white superiors and West Indians occupied an ambiguous middle ground, he gravitated to radical politics, Sartrean existentialism and the philosophy of black consciousness known as négritude (Djemai). Négritude is the affirmation or consciousness of the value of black or African culture, heritage, and identity (dictionary). Fanon also fell under the influence of Tosquelles, an innovative practitioner of group therapy. Applying Tosquelles 's methods at a hospital in a suburb of Algiers, where Fanon arrived in 1953, he earned the trust of Arab patients whom French psychiatrists had treated with a mixture of pity and contempt (Macey). In Fanon 's new home, Macey reminds us, one million Europeans ruled over some nine million Arabs and Berbers, largely illiterate and cruelly exploited. After the Algerian National Liberation Front launched a revolution in 1954, the French Army used Gestapo tactics to restore order. Suspects were given electric shocks to the testicles, raped with bottles and often beaten to death. Entire villages were destroyed in retaliation for the death of a single soldier. While secretly aiding the rebels, Fanon cared for victims and perpetrators alike, producing case notes that shed invaluable light on the psychic traumas of colonial war
While the economic and political damage of the scramble for Africa crippled the continent’s social structure, the mental warfare and system of hierarchy instituted by the Europeans, made the continent more susceptible to division and conquest. The scramble for partition commenced a psychological warfare, as many Africans were now thrust between the cultural barriers of two identities. As a result, institutions for racial inferiority became rooted in the cultural identity of the continent. This paper will expound on the impact of colonialism on the mental psyche of Africans and the employment of the mind as a means to seize control. I will outline how the mental hierarchy inculcated by the Europeans paved the way for their “divide and conquer” tactic, a tool essential for European success. Through evidence from a primary source by Edgar Canisius and the novel, King Leopold’s Ghost, I will show how colonial influences heightened the victimization of Africans through psychological means. I will culminate by showing how Robert Collins fails to provide a holistic account of colonialism, due to his inability to factor in the use of psychological warfare as a means to the end. By dissecting the minds of both the colonizer and the colonized, I hope to illustrate the susceptibility of African minds to European influences and how psychological warfare transformed Africans from survivors to victims during colonialism.
Globalization is defined as “the historical process involving a fundamental shift or transformation in the spatial scale of human social organization that links distant communities and expands the reach of power relations across regions and continents (Baylis, 2014).”