Stepheny Saavedra
Anthropology 340
Dec. 1, 2016
“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” is one of the many cases that exemplify the barriers and obstacles people from distinct cultures encounter due to their ethnocentrism and lack of cultural relativism. After escaping to the U.S., a place completely different from what they called home, the Lees had to adapt and place their trust on strangers (to save their daughter) who viewed a condition with spiritual origin to the Hmong as a neurological disorder that had to be stopped rather than controlled. As a result, treating Lia’s epilepsy caused contradictory approaches between Lia’s parents and the Western doctors as to how to treat the Hmong child. Anne Fadiman, author of the book, takes an …show more content…
The constant practice and presence of American and Hmong culture in their daily lives unfortunately lead them to become oblivious of other cultures and to regard others as strange or ignorant if they followed different values. Although there is no clear or right answer as to who leads the correct life, the ethnocentric judgments people hold towards other traditions help determine cultural identity and core values while influencing the life of many. For instance, based of Fadiman’s research, Western medicine identifies itself as a knowledgeable institution with many scientific advances while Hmong people characterize themselves as consistently devoted people to their ancestors and animistic faith. Of course, without ethnocentric views, there would be fewer boundaries between differing cultures, but there would also be no distinction between two different traditions due to the fact that they would intermingle and develop into a melting pot of …show more content…
The ethnocentrism of the American government and the lack of knowledge regarding the Hmong culture worsened the living situation for these refugees. The government believed their decision of resettling the refugees across 53 different cities as a way to avoid economic and social burden in one area would benefit the Hmong, but neglected to realize that they were actually worsening the living situation for these refugees by separating them from their clan and taking away the freedom and independence they once had in Laos. In the Hmong community, power was evenly distributed amongst medicine, society and government, which allowed them to practice autonomy; however, in the United States, government holds the highest level of power so their hope of becoming self-sufficient again vanished once they arrived to the United States. The national voluntary resettlement agencies or better known as VOLAGs attempted to help Hmong refugees but lacked comprehension of the importance of family and community these individuals felt. According to Fadiman, “…these families exhibited unusually high levels of anxiety, depression, and paranoia” (185). Once again, through an ethnocentric point of view, the American government came to a conclusion they knew Hmong would comply to because of their minute power rather than
Anthropology 340
Dec. 1, 2016
“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” is one of the many cases that exemplify the barriers and obstacles people from distinct cultures encounter due to their ethnocentrism and lack of cultural relativism. After escaping to the U.S., a place completely different from what they called home, the Lees had to adapt and place their trust on strangers (to save their daughter) who viewed a condition with spiritual origin to the Hmong as a neurological disorder that had to be stopped rather than controlled. As a result, treating Lia’s epilepsy caused contradictory approaches between Lia’s parents and the Western doctors as to how to treat the Hmong child. Anne Fadiman, author of the book, takes an …show more content…
The constant practice and presence of American and Hmong culture in their daily lives unfortunately lead them to become oblivious of other cultures and to regard others as strange or ignorant if they followed different values. Although there is no clear or right answer as to who leads the correct life, the ethnocentric judgments people hold towards other traditions help determine cultural identity and core values while influencing the life of many. For instance, based of Fadiman’s research, Western medicine identifies itself as a knowledgeable institution with many scientific advances while Hmong people characterize themselves as consistently devoted people to their ancestors and animistic faith. Of course, without ethnocentric views, there would be fewer boundaries between differing cultures, but there would also be no distinction between two different traditions due to the fact that they would intermingle and develop into a melting pot of …show more content…
The ethnocentrism of the American government and the lack of knowledge regarding the Hmong culture worsened the living situation for these refugees. The government believed their decision of resettling the refugees across 53 different cities as a way to avoid economic and social burden in one area would benefit the Hmong, but neglected to realize that they were actually worsening the living situation for these refugees by separating them from their clan and taking away the freedom and independence they once had in Laos. In the Hmong community, power was evenly distributed amongst medicine, society and government, which allowed them to practice autonomy; however, in the United States, government holds the highest level of power so their hope of becoming self-sufficient again vanished once they arrived to the United States. The national voluntary resettlement agencies or better known as VOLAGs attempted to help Hmong refugees but lacked comprehension of the importance of family and community these individuals felt. According to Fadiman, “…these families exhibited unusually high levels of anxiety, depression, and paranoia” (185). Once again, through an ethnocentric point of view, the American government came to a conclusion they knew Hmong would comply to because of their minute power rather than