Transcript Theoretical Approaches - College of Arts and Sciences

Theoretical
Approaches
Medical Anthropology
2008 @ LIHernandez
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Donald Jarelmon said…
I wish to show that fieldwork in medical anthropology is a dynamic
process that is not well suited to the structured, hypothesis-testing
research paradigm of the laboratory sciences. In the midst of a research
project, as you are gradually becoming more sophisticated in your
understanding of the social reality in which you find yourself, questions
you had not even contemplated emerge as central. Sometimes, a
research technique you thought would work fails miserably, or you find
that the individuals whom you hoped to talk to have no interest in talking
to you. At the same time, theoretical discussions in the discipline do not
stand still while you carry out your fieldwork. It is not unusual to find that
the direction of your research shifts in response to ongoing debates in
the profession at home. [My aim is] to convey the fluid quality of medical
anthropology fieldwork. (1999:17).
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ECOLOGICAL Perspective
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Biology anthropology - Biological or
Physical Anthropology is the study of both
present and past human variation relative
to local ecologies and cultures.
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Biological Anthropologists specialize in Human or
Primate Anatomy, Genetics, Disease Ecology,
growth and development, Forensic Anthropology
and Osteology, Medical Anthropology, Primate
Behavior, and Paleoanthropology.
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ECOLOGICAL Perspective
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Interactions between our socio-cultural
patterns and our biology/environment
We have talked about epidemiology – the
scientific study of disease causation
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Standard epidemiological practice focuses on
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the correct diagnosis of the responsible pathogen
the source(s) and mode of its transmission
the most effective control measures
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ECOLOGICAL Perspective
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epidemiology views disease in ecological terms
 the interaction between a pathogen(s) and its
host(s) [host = an organism (human or animal)
that harbors the disease-causing organism] as
this interaction is shaped by the conditions of a
specific environment
draw: host/pathogen/specific environmental
conditions
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ECOLOGICAL Perspective
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overarching theoretical framework here is evolutionary
theory and its central concept of natural selection  any
genetically governed characteristics that provide a
selective advantage (i.e., increase the likelihood that
members of a living population will survive & reproduce)
will be expressed more frequently in that population over
time
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Why? Those with the traits tend to live long enough to pass
the trait (their genes) on to the next generation.
Adaptation the continuing process by which a population
adjusts to its environment in response to selective pressures
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CRITICAL Perspective
o
How do distributions of wealth & power and
divisions of labor affect disease patterns
and health care access?
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CRITICAL Perspective
o
Political/economy approach  emphasizes
the importance of political & economic
forces – the exercise of power – in shaping
health, disease, illness experience, &
health care
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CRITICAL Perspective
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Asks: why do the socio/cultural conditions that
facilitate “success” of the disease continue to
prevail in a society at specific points in time?
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Example: subjecting epidemiological data on cholera
epidemic to a class analysis to find out how & why cholera
differentially affects rich & poor
Views the disease as the product of social not “natural”
circumstances
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INTERPRETIVE Perspective
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Socio-cultural anthropology
How are society’s understandings of and
responses to disease shaped by cultural
assumptions? In other words, how are
sicknesses culturally constructed?
A “meaning-centered” approach to illness
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INTERPRETIVE Perspective
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Asks, what meanings does a disease bring with
it?
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Cholera as caused by goddesses in south India as
punishment for sinful behavior
Documents the thoughts and experiences of
sufferers, their families, and others in their
communities
Explores how ordinary people and healers
account for the disease and how they treat it
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APPLIED Perspective
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Consultants, culture brokers; intermediaries
between biomedical practitioners and
groups whose cultural assumptions are at
odds with biomedicine
When done well, this perspective requires
some integration of the other three
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