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This excellent anthology is concerned with various forms of psychological treatment employed in a number of undeveloped and primitive cultures, most of which are in a state of transition because of the impact of Western civilization. Its purposes are to add a further dimension to our knowledge of the basic processes of psychological treatment and to provide in one volume materials demonstrating differences and similarities throughout the world. The impact of cultural factors on the form and content of psychiatric theories and treatment is emphasized in order to demonstrate forcefully that culture contributes not only to formation of personality and psychic conflict but also to the development, perpetuation, and management of mental illness. The orientation of this book recognizes the biological limits of human behavior, which account in part for the fundamental similarities of psychotherapies in various cultures.
Superficially, conceptualizations of mental illness and healing differ vastly between nonindustrialized and industrialized societies. In the former, illness is thought to result from combinations of harmful environmental influences, the enmity of other persons,