WHY APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY?
According to lecture 6.1 applied anthropologists are sought out by hospitals and NGOs to start new programs and/or to evaluate existing programs and see why they’re not working. They are trained in both qualitative and quantitative methods nd use participant observation as their method of research.
GLOBALIZATION & PTSD
Globalization are those processes that are intensifying worldwide social relations and independence. It considers complex interactions between culture, economic systems, political organizations and planetary ecology. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in post 9/11 world has expanded in both American culture along with expanding globally. The expansion happened because of the fit between PTSD and the existing agendas within global institutions. It provides biological facts that can apply to many populations and can then from that we can compare suffering. Therefore, the ethnographic study of PTSD is an important part of the anthropological study of contemporary global institutions (Breslau).
ISTSS
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies is a forum to share research, clinical strategies, public policy concerns and theoretical formulations on trauma around the world. It promotes the understanding preventing and advocating for those that are victims or might fall victim to PTSD (ISTSS). This forum can help with those treating individuals from all around the world. If a physician has a patient that has been diagnosed with PTSD, their background is going to be a huge factor in how the disorder needs to be treated. However, on the site it shows basic guidelines of how to handle PTSD. I would say most of the information and materials are an outline of how to handle the situation. They have videos that show people suffering from PTSD, one can be seen below. This victim, a Rwandan Genocide survivor, describes her horrific past and then how hard it was to get acclimated to life here in the U.S. She talks about how she realized there was something wrong years after she came here. Instances like these require specific understanding of how to treat her PTSD. In cases like this, clinical anthropologists would help focus on the management of health care and emphasize the cultural context of the experience of this disorder. This is especially important when dealing with patients from other cultures, especially cultures that have experienced such severe tragedies as the Rwanda Genocide of 1994.
According to lecture 6.1 applied anthropologists are sought out by hospitals and NGOs to start new programs and/or to evaluate existing programs and see why they’re not working. They are trained in both qualitative and quantitative methods nd use participant observation as their method of research.
GLOBALIZATION & PTSD
Globalization are those processes that are intensifying worldwide social relations and independence. It considers complex interactions between culture, economic systems, political organizations and planetary ecology. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in post 9/11 world has expanded in both American culture along with expanding globally. The expansion happened because of the fit between PTSD and the existing agendas within global institutions. It provides biological facts that can apply to many populations and can then from that we can compare suffering. Therefore, the ethnographic study of PTSD is an important part of the anthropological study of contemporary global institutions (Breslau).
ISTSS
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies is a forum to share research, clinical strategies, public policy concerns and theoretical formulations on trauma around the world. It promotes the understanding preventing and advocating for those that are victims or might fall victim to PTSD (ISTSS). This forum can help with those treating individuals from all around the world. If a physician has a patient that has been diagnosed with PTSD, their background is going to be a huge factor in how the disorder needs to be treated. However, on the site it shows basic guidelines of how to handle PTSD. I would say most of the information and materials are an outline of how to handle the situation. They have videos that show people suffering from PTSD, one can be seen below. This victim, a Rwandan Genocide survivor, describes her horrific past and then how hard it was to get acclimated to life here in the U.S. She talks about how she realized there was something wrong years after she came here. Instances like these require specific understanding of how to treat her PTSD. In cases like this, clinical anthropologists would help focus on the management of health care and emphasize the cultural context of the experience of this disorder. This is especially important when dealing with patients from other cultures, especially cultures that have experienced such severe tragedies as the Rwanda Genocide of 1994.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL ADVICE
Anthropologists are trained in anthropological theory to look at macro level structures (political and cultural ecology and ethnomedical systems) in tandem with micro level experiences (health practices and beliefs of individuals) (lecture 6.1). With skills like these, they are able give a holistic point of view to medical professionals, government officials or any and all people involved in providing medical care to patients. In the chart shown here, we see PTSD rates across different populations. In conflict-affected and/or refugee populations, 40 percent of their population suffers from PTSD. In the case of women that survived the Rwandan Genocide, treatment could include therapy but would need to have a female therapist as men might bring flashbacks as stated in the video. Furthermore, understanding of Rwandan beliefs both health and spiritual need to be taken into account when making a treatment plan.
Anthropologists are trained in anthropological theory to look at macro level structures (political and cultural ecology and ethnomedical systems) in tandem with micro level experiences (health practices and beliefs of individuals) (lecture 6.1). With skills like these, they are able give a holistic point of view to medical professionals, government officials or any and all people involved in providing medical care to patients. In the chart shown here, we see PTSD rates across different populations. In conflict-affected and/or refugee populations, 40 percent of their population suffers from PTSD. In the case of women that survived the Rwandan Genocide, treatment could include therapy but would need to have a female therapist as men might bring flashbacks as stated in the video. Furthermore, understanding of Rwandan beliefs both health and spiritual need to be taken into account when making a treatment plan.
REFERENCES
"After Effects of Trauma." YouTube. February 28, 2014. Accessed August 14, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWBNZMDJuNo.
Breslau, Joshua. "Introduction: Cultures of Trauma: Anthropological Views of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in International Health." Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 28, no. 2 (2004): 113-14.
Goepner, Erik. "An Enduring Argument Against Counterinsurgency." Small Wars Journals. September 27, 2012. Accessed August 14, 2014. http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/an-enduring-argument-against-counterinsurgency.
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Accessed August 12, 2014. http://www.istss.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home.
"After Effects of Trauma." YouTube. February 28, 2014. Accessed August 14, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWBNZMDJuNo.
Breslau, Joshua. "Introduction: Cultures of Trauma: Anthropological Views of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in International Health." Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 28, no. 2 (2004): 113-14.
Goepner, Erik. "An Enduring Argument Against Counterinsurgency." Small Wars Journals. September 27, 2012. Accessed August 14, 2014. http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/an-enduring-argument-against-counterinsurgency.
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Accessed August 12, 2014. http://www.istss.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home.