Study-unit ETHNOPSYCHIATRY
| Course name | Socioanthropological studies for integration and social security |
|---|---|
| Study-unit Code | A002696 |
| Curriculum | Comune a tutti i curricula |
| Lecturer | Massimiliano Minelli |
| Lecturers |
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| Hours |
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| CFU | 6 |
| Course Regulation | Coorte 2023 |
| Supplied | 2024/25 |
| Supplied other course regulation | |
| Sector | M-DEA/01 |
| Type of study-unit | Opzionale (Optional) |
| Type of learning activities | Attività formativa monodisciplinare |
| Language of instruction | Italian |
| Contents | The course deals with the theoretical orientations and methods of Ethnopsychiatry, exploring the relationships between psychic disorders, treatment devices, and sociocultural contexts. It also examines the problems, methods, and policies in research and clinical studies regarding the relationship between cultural processes and mental health in different human societies. In the monographic part, focusing on concrete situations with a historical and ethnographic perspective, power relations, the activation of social networks, and the processes of change in various contexts of global mental health are analyzed. Some case studies are also proposed, taken from ethnographic research on processes of deinstitutionalization and construction of community mental health networks in Italy and Brazil. |
| Reference texts | General text: Beneduce B., Etnopsichiatria. Sofferenza mentale e alterità fra storia, dominio e cultura, Carocci, Roma, 2019. Text for the monographic part: Basaglia F., Conferenze brasiliane, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milano, 2018. And 2 articles to choose from among the following (related to the case studies addressed in the monographic part of the course) *: Minelli M., “Divorare per non essere divorati”. Etnografia dei processi di deistituzionalizzazione nel campo della salute mentale in Brasile, “Lares”, Vol. 2 (80), 2014, pp. 387-412. Minelli M., Cartografare paesaggi sonori. Un itinerario etnografico nella rete degli Uditori di Voci, “Anuac. Rivista dell’Associazione nazionale universitaria di antropologia culturale”, Vol. 6 (2), 2017, pp. 219-243. Minelli M. Scendere in strada per fare salute e affermare diritti. Esperienze di ricerca e d’azione comunitaria in Brasile, “Sistema Salute. La Rivista italiana di educazione sanitaria e promozione della salute”, vol. 63. n. 4, ottobre-dicembre 2019, pp. 527-539. Minelli M. Salute mentale e territorio, “AM. Rivista della Società italiana di antropologia medica”, n. 49, giugno 2020, pp. 129-162. Minelli M. Asylum 61. Follia, istituzioni, scritture, “AM. Rivista della Società italiana di antropologia medica”, vol. 23, n. 54, dicembre 2022, pp. 111-143. * Journal articles are Open Access and downloadable online (they will also be made available in Unistudium) For those who wish to take the exam on texts in English, the following are indicated as an alternative (2 texts to be chosen from the following): Kleinman A., Rethinking Psychiatry. From Cultural Category to Personal Experience, The Free Press - Collier Mac Millan Publisher, New York- London, 1988. ¿Laderman C. - Roseman M. (eds). The performance of healing, Routledge, London - New York, 1996. ¿Lakoff A., Pharmaceutical reason. Knowledge and value in global psychiatry, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005.¿ Lambek M. - Strathern A. (Eds.), Bodies and persons. Comparative perspectives from Africa and Melanesia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998. Stoller P., Sensuous scholarship, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1997.¿ Young A., The harmony of illusions. Inventing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ., 1995. |
| Educational objectives | This course provides basic knowledge of Ethnopsychiatry and promotes the acquisition of epistemological and methodological skills in research concerning the relationship between cultural processes and mental illness. The main knowledge (Dublin Descriptor 1) acquired will be: - knowledge of the theoretical orientations and methods in Ethnopsychiatry; - knowledge of different approaches to social suffering, mental illness, and migration. The main skills acquired (ability to apply the knowledge acquired, Dublin Descriptor 2, and to adopt the appropriate approach with autonomy of judgment, Dublin Descriptor 3) will be: - Analyzing social situations to activate networks and cultural actions on social suffering. - ability to explore, from various perspectives, multiple healthcare relations between different subjects. - ability to interpret the material and symbolic exchanges in therapeutic relationships. - ability to study the processes of transformation, which are involved in ritual practices and psychotherapeutic devices. - ability to think over the positioning of the researcher and the dislocation of the other actors involved in therapeutic settings. |
| Prerequisites | To adequately understand and tackle the Course of Ethnopsychiatry, the student must have basic knowledge concerning the theories of social sciences and the history of cultural anthropology. This precondition is valid for both attending and non-attending students. |
| Teaching methods | The course is organized as follows: lecturers on all course subjects, practical activities, discussion groups, and projection of ethnographic video materials that will complement the lectures. |
| Other information | During the course, in addition to research materials and the projection of ethnographic audiovisuals, more bibliographic information will be provided. Not attending students are warmly recommended to contact the teacher during office hours to agree on the exam program. |
| Learning verification modality | An oral exam consists of a discussion interview on the topics covered during the lectures and the issues present in recommended texts. The interview is used to check the student’s knowledge of the concepts and analytical tools of Ethnopsychiatry and ability to reflect on the transcultural dynamics in community mental health. The oral exam consists of an interview of about 30 minutes and is aimed at assessing: - the level of knowledge of the theoretical contents of the course (Dublin descriptor 1); - the level of competence in presenting their knowledge (Dublin descriptor 2); - autonomy of judgment (Dublin descriptor 3); - the student’s language skills in answering the Commission’s questions, sustaining a dialectical relationship during the interview, and demonstrating logical-deductive and summary abilities in the exhibition of one’s thought (Dublin 4 descriptor). The grade will be expressed by the Commission in thirtieths. Note: If a student intends to anticipate his/her exam in a year preceding the one it is scheduled in his/her curriculum, it is recommended that he/she anticipate the attendance of the lessons and schedule the exam in the first useful session after the lessons have been concluded. |
| Extended program | The course deals with the theoretical orientations and methods of Ethnopsychiatry, exploring the relationships between psychic disorders, treatment devices, and sociocultural contexts. It also examines the problems, methods, and policies in research and clinical studies regarding the relationship between cultural processes and mental health in different human societies. In the monographic part, focusing on concrete situations with a historical and ethnographic perspective, power relations, the activation of social networks, and the processes of change in various contexts of global mental health are analyzed. Some case studies are also proposed, taken from ethnographic research on processes of deinstitutionalization and construction of community mental health networks in Italy and Brazil. Pathways to mental health without segregating institutions require permanent collective activity to deinstitutionalize daily practices and mobilize collective resources. This activity must foster dialogue between social practices and minor knowledge, which cannot be integrated into a rigid biomedical structure. New strategies for action, to be advanced and creative, need to focus on the relationship between primary health and community-based mental health policies. In this regard, ethnographic work is essential to produce critical thinking and highlight, in the making, the interactions between the ordinary practice of psychiatry, social movements, and the constituent process of health reforms in public health systems. “ANTHROPOLOGY OF DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION PROCESSES IN GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH” The course consists of two parts. The first part deals with the theoretical orientations and methods of Ethnopsychiatry: a borderland in which different disciplines (anthropology, psychology, psychiatry) explore the relationships between psychic disorders, treatment devices, and sociocultural contexts. From a historical perspective and with an ethnographic definition of the areas of interest, the problems, methods, and research policies are also explored in relation to the relationship between cultural processes and mental health in different human societies. In the second part, focusing on concrete situations and with a historical and ethnographic slant, power relations, the activation of social networks, and the processes of change are analyzed in various contexts of mental health affected by processes of liberation and deinstitutionalization. In this context, focusing on concrete situations and with a historical and ethnographic slant, power relations, the activation of social networks, and the processes of change in public health and community care networks are analyzed. Some case studies are also proposed, taken from ethnographic research on different therapeutic devices and ritual contexts in Italy and Brazil, where social agents are collectively involved in transformative practices. |
| Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile | 3,4,5 |