Mental Illness and Ethnocentrism
As a psychology major, I have been very curious to see what conclusions we can make about the human mind when looking through an anthropological lens. Naturally, when presented with the opportunity to look at anthropological research of my own choosing, I looked for something with strong psychological implications. I chose to examine an article written by Susan Abbott and Ruben Klein titled Depression and Anxiety among Rural Kikuyu in Kenya. Although it was a very interesting read, the conclusions Abbott and Klein made about depression and anxiety were based on comparisons between Western and Kikuyu cultural standards, which is ethnocentric and does not allow us to form legitimate claims unless additional information …show more content…
All of the inventories were of western origin. The researchers used the Beck inventory to create an anxiety and depression self-report test to administer to the people of Kangongo.
After examining the test results researchers discovered that the men of the community were more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, and the women were more likely to report symptoms of depression. When discussing the implications of this, Abbott and Klein suggest that women in Kangango are more likely to be depressed because they are seen as subservient to the men of the community. They say that since the women have little control over their lives, they are more likely to be depressed. This is where things got really iffy for …show more content…
The subservience of women to men in Kangongo is described as being just and expected by the community. To say that women would be depressed under these circumstances seems to be condemning this norm and suggesting that the Western idea of (relative) gender equality is universally desired and is the only circumstance under which a woman should or could be happy. It also ignores the fact that in Western societies women are still more likely than men to be depressed! Harvard Health Publications reported that women are twice as likely as men to experience depression. You think that this would be considered in a thorough analysis of the
As a psychology major, I have been very curious to see what conclusions we can make about the human mind when looking through an anthropological lens. Naturally, when presented with the opportunity to look at anthropological research of my own choosing, I looked for something with strong psychological implications. I chose to examine an article written by Susan Abbott and Ruben Klein titled Depression and Anxiety among Rural Kikuyu in Kenya. Although it was a very interesting read, the conclusions Abbott and Klein made about depression and anxiety were based on comparisons between Western and Kikuyu cultural standards, which is ethnocentric and does not allow us to form legitimate claims unless additional information …show more content…
All of the inventories were of western origin. The researchers used the Beck inventory to create an anxiety and depression self-report test to administer to the people of Kangongo.
After examining the test results researchers discovered that the men of the community were more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, and the women were more likely to report symptoms of depression. When discussing the implications of this, Abbott and Klein suggest that women in Kangango are more likely to be depressed because they are seen as subservient to the men of the community. They say that since the women have little control over their lives, they are more likely to be depressed. This is where things got really iffy for …show more content…
The subservience of women to men in Kangongo is described as being just and expected by the community. To say that women would be depressed under these circumstances seems to be condemning this norm and suggesting that the Western idea of (relative) gender equality is universally desired and is the only circumstance under which a woman should or could be happy. It also ignores the fact that in Western societies women are still more likely than men to be depressed! Harvard Health Publications reported that women are twice as likely as men to experience depression. You think that this would be considered in a thorough analysis of the