Culture, Religion, and Ethnomedicine: The Tibetan Diaspora in India

by Igor Pietkiewicz

Overview

Culture, Religion, and Ethnomedicine discusses various interdependencies between culture, religion, and health with a concentration on Tibetan culture. Igor Pietkiewicz uses an example of the Tibetans in exile to explain how culture affects illness behavior, including perception of sickness and treatment methods, as well as the choice of an appropriate cure. The book also touches upon the problem of migration and various risk factors associated with adjustment of ethnic minorities in a host country. It elaborates on the issues not limited to a single refugee community, but universal in a world that is becoming a global village. Students planning to do qualitative research in social sciences will find this book valuable. Students can learn how to select data and get information about data sources, analysis, and management from the chapter on qualitative research methodology. This book will also be helpful to health practitioners who treat individuals representing other cultures as well those interested in health issues in multi-cultural settings.

A free companion website with extensive supplementary material including full-color photographs is available at www.cultureandmedicine.com.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761841340
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	10/16/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Igor Pietkiewicz, Ph.D., is a Polish psychotherapist and researcher at John Paul II Hospital in Krakow. He is lecturer at Jagiellonian University where he has designed and taught university courses on medical anthropology and thanatology.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Chapter One: Tibetan Culture, Religion, and Acculturation
Chapter 3 Chapter Two: Health and Illness Behaviors
Chapter 4 Chapter Three: Religion and Health
Chapter 5 Chapter Four: Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet and in Exile
Chapter 6 Chapter Five: The Traditional Tibetan System of Medicine in Tibet and in Exile
Chapter 7 Chapter Six: Empirical Research
Chapter 8 Chapter Seven: Presenting and Analyzing the Qualitative Data
Chapter 9 Chapter Eight: Discussion and Conclusions

Editorial Reviews

I can highly recommend this book to all those who wish to deepen their knowledge of medical anthropology and get a better understanding of phenomena that can be observed in cross-cultural psychiatry, counseling, or nursing.

Bogdan de Barbaro

An inspiring and valuable account of how culture shapes collective and individual understanding of health problems, decision-making regarding seeking help, and utilization of specific coping strategies in ethnic minority groups. The information presented here gives more insight into numerous factors that should be considered when providing healthcare services in a cross-cultural context. This outstanding ethnographic account is also a significant contribution to the field of "urgent anthropology" that documents indigenous peoples and cultures that are threatened by the globalization process. I highly recommend it as a handbook to supplement courses in medical anthropology, psychology of religion, ethnicity, and cross-cultural psychiatry, counseling, or nursing.

Halina Grzymala-Moszczynska Ph.D.