ANTH150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Alternative Medicine, World Health Organization, Program Evaluation
10 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
ANTH150 Lecture
X: Illness and Healing
How are beliefs expressed?/
• Doctrine: direct statements about religious belief (written and formal)
Ritual
• Behaviour that is formalised, is regularly repeated, and as symbolic content
• Religious rituals vs. secular rituals
• A religious ritual: a patterned form of behaviour focused on the supernatural, consisting of
five parts
Life cycle rituals: rights of passage
• A ritual performed to mark a change in the status from one life stage to another
• Separation
• Transition (liminal state)
• Reincorporation
Magic
• Supernatural techniques intended to accomplish specific aims
• What is the difference between magic and religion?
Imitative magic
• Based on the law of similarity
Contagious magic
• Based on law of contagion (or contact)
What is medical anthropology?
• Medical anthropology is the holistic study of health, healing and illness across societies
• Describes, interprets and critically appraises the relationships between culture, behaviour,
health and disease, placing health and illness in the broader context of cultural, social,
political, economic, and historical processes
Central areas of study
• Relationship between culture and health
• To understand healing processes
• Patterns and distribution of disease
• Help people and communities understand and respond to health challenges
• Examine access to resources and systems of exclusion
• To better understand how people experience illness and health, and how practical solutions to
health problems can be found
Medical anthropology
• The human experience of health and disease
• Interdisciplinary and integrative approach toward health and illness
• Human bodies, culture, history, have a complex interactive relationship
What do medical anthropologists do?
• Combine with a degree in helping professions
• “Culture broker”
• Advocacy and policy
• Research for community health
• Program evaluation
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
How are beliefs expressed?: doctrine: direct statements about religious belief (written and formal) Ritual: behaviour that is formalised, is regularly repeated, and as symbolic content, religious rituals vs. secular rituals, a religious ritual: a patterned form of behaviour focused on the supernatural, consisting of five parts. Life cycle rituals: rights of passage: a ritual performed to mark a change in the status from one life stage to another, separation, transition (liminal state, reincorporation. Imitative magic: based on the law of similarity. Contagious magic: based on law of contagion (or contact) Medical anthropology: the human experience of health and disease, human bodies, culture, history, have a complex interactive relationship. Interdisciplinary and integrative approach toward health and illness. Culture broker : combine with a degree in helping professions, advocacy and policy, research for community health, program evaluation, bioethics, alternative medicine, community health program development.
