Anthropological Perspective on Health and Illness (Chap 2+3) Flashcards
Medical Anthropology, Healers and Healing, Evolutions and Health
Anthropology
discipline investigating the nature and causes of human variations and those aspects of life that are common to all humanity
Franz Boas
Father of Anthropology
Cultural Relativism
- Did not view cultural change as a progression from primitive to civilized but rather as simply unique adaptations to their own particular circumstances
Cultural Relativism
Other cultures must not be evaluated in relation to another judged superior, rather cultures must be understood or “made sense of” in their own terms
4 Fields of Anthropology
Biologica
Cultural
Linguistic
Archaeology
Ethnomedicine
Healing traditions of a given culture
Culture Concept
Culture = patterns of behaviour common to a group
Ethnographic Fieldwork = systematic description of human culture requiring residence in a community
Participant - Observation = The participation in yet detached observance of a groups behaviour
Emic
Insiders view who is a member of a society
etic
Outsiders view, observing behaviour from a distance with no prior knowledge of its emic meaning
Biocultural Perspective
Considers social, ecological and biological aspects of health issues and how these interact within and across populations
Biomedicine
Form of Medicine Developed out of the scientific tradition of the 18th Century Europe - Views disease as having a uniquely biological cause within the body
Cultural System within itself - predominant ethnomedical system of the west
Culture
Beliefs, values and traditions of a group
Holism
Entirety of culture (i.e Tribal Group) - what anthropology is primarily concerned with
Health
Positive + Negative Definition - What Health is and What Health isn’t
Alma Ata conference 1978 - “a state of complete social psychological and physical wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”
Disease
Physiological alteration that impairs function
Derived from biomedical science
Injury, infection, malnutrition, genetic, chronic , psychological or behavioural
Diagnosed by a doctor
Illness
Subjective experience of symptoms/suffering and motivates people to seek out assistance
What you believe is happening to you
Sickness
Sick Roles - recognized set of expectations for sick people (not working, not writing exams etc..)
sickness must be recognized in our culture - Doc’s note
People lobby for certain conditions to be recognized and when they are not recognized a stigma can be attached to them
Biomedical
fixed state of health
biocultural
range of variation
Epidemiology
Study of determinates of a disease in a population and application to health problems
Descriptive Epidemiology - Who/what/when/where
Analytics Epidemiology - How/Why
Incidence Rate
Number of new cases in a population over a period of time
Prevalence
Number of cases in a population over a period of time
Epidemic
Occurrence of more cases in a population in a period of time
Pandemic
Epidemic in a broad area
Endemic
Constant presence of a disease in a population
Morbidity
Departure from state of well being (disease)
Mortality
Death
Mortality Rate
Frequency of death occurrence in a period of time
Medical Pluralism
Multiple healing systems in a culture -cultural beliefs and relationship to other traditions
Common in State Level Societies
Alternative Medicines replace biomedical practices
Ethnocentrism and Ethnomediocentric Bias
Adaptationism
View that most traits are “optimal adaptations”
Speices may be successful in but poorly adapted to their environment
Behavioral Adaptability
Important in Humans because we have large brains
Good at Niche- Constructing (modify Landscape/change env)
Changes present challenges in the future
Biological Normalcy
Needed to understand disease and to establish a relationship between traits and increased/decreased risk of disease
State Vs. Range
Can be applied to what appears to be “abnormal states”
HOWEVER, abnormality can be applied to what are infact normal states
Medicalization and Pathologization
Alternative Medicine
Medical practices that are undertaken to replace standard biomedicine practice
Complementary Medicines
Used in conjunction with standard biomedical practice
Healers
Restore health
Strongly influenced by culture
Different cultures have different criteria for becoming a healer
Systematicity
Evidence-Based Medicine
Differential diagnosis/decision making trees
Existence of such efforts suggest a response to non systematic nature of such practices
Evolution and Health
Much of the concern is what we are NOT adapted for - mismatch
Mistmatch between the environment we have evolved FOR and the environment we’re in right now
Natural Selection
- Variation in a Population
- Variations are genetically heritable
- Organisms compete for limited resources
More favorable Traits
More successful in
- Surviving
- Reproducing
- Naturally selected over time
Fitness
Relative ability of an organism to survive and transmit its genes
Recognizing an adaptation
- Trait is a variation of an earlier form
- Trait is Heritable
- Trait enhances reproductive success
Context of Adaptations
Context Specific or Environment of Evolutionary adaptation
Peppered Moth
Industrial melanism in England - White moths favoured before industrialization as they blend with the tree bark. After industrialization and the trees are covered in soot, the black moths now blend in with the trees and are thus favoured.
Adaptation Implications
Involve Trade Offs
Maximize fitness NOT health
e.g Humans walk up right but can’t move very quickly
