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Curanderismo is an ethnopsychiatric study of the Mexican-American subculture of San Antonio, Texas. It was 'conceived to examine in detail the specific aspects of one system of prescientific psychiatry for the purpose of clarifying the therapeutic significance of its culture-bound elements. This study sought to determine the nature of a folk-healer's sensitivity to the nuances and subtleties of psychopathology among the members of his group, and in what ways the care he offered was suitable for the specific psychopathological conflicts created in his own culture.' The study began with the reasonable assumption that within the limits set by biological factors, behavioral patterns are directed by the culture, as are the patterns of disturbances and the institutions to deal with them.
Curanderismo is a readable, interesting, and informative book which could be read with benefit by anyone who is interested in social psychiatry or the efficacy of different therapeutic techniques. The discussion of the folk diseases of the Mexican-Americans is especially good. Nevertheless, Curanderismo is a less successful book than Magic, Faith and Healing: Studies in Primitive Psychiatry Today, an anthology of articles written largely by professional anthropologists and edited previously by Dr. Kiev.1
In Curanderismo, Kiev presents an overview of aspects of the Mexican-American's history, social structure, socialization practices, and personality organization and data pertaining to his general view of illness and health and his psychological conflicts. Information about the personality of the curandero, his assumption of the