Global Mental Health
PSYC 267
Spring 2019
| Section:
01
|
During the past half-century, mental health professionals have increasingly explored the international reach and cross-cultural relevance of their work. Practitioners have traveled from country to country in order to work with local populations, including those experiencing traumatic circumstances such as war and natural disasters. Professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association have developed guidelines and recommendations for multicultural competence. Researchers have investigated the cross-cultural epidemiology and expression of mental health challenges; for example, according to the World Health Organization, one in four people across the globe will experience a mental disorder at some point in their lives.
What does it mean to establish the global prevalence of mental disorders? Is psychological distress, including the distress that results from traumatic exposure, experienced and interpreted in the same way in all cultural contexts? While some scholars have argued that mental disorders are a global epidemic requiring a uniform, universal response, others have suggested that the exportation of psychological discourse and approaches from Western countries has eclipsed local expressions of distress and indigenous healing traditions. This course will explore these questions and controversies using the tools and frameworks of multicultural psychology. We will place particular emphasis on the social, cultural, structural, and environmental determinants of mental health. We will address mental health disparities between high- and low-income countries, as well as the meanings of psychiatric explanatory models in advantaged and disadvantaged communities. Populations of focus will include migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, and the urban homeless. Throughout the course, we will explore the growing research in the field of indigenous psychology, which promotes local knowledge, as well as the structural competency movement, which emphasizes the socio-institutional origins of health disparities. |
|
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS PSYC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: PSYC105 |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (PSYC) |
|
Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Sample of potential readings (not yet confirmed):
APA Task Force on Re-envisioning the Multicultural Guidelines for the 21st Century (2017). MULTICULTURAL GUIDELINES: AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO CONTEXT, IDENTITY, AND INTERSECTIONALITY. American Psychological Association. Available at https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/policy/multicultural-guideline.pdf
Fanon, F. (2008). BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASKS. (Trans. R. Philcox). New York, NY: Grove Books. Original work published 1952.
Kleinman, A. (2013). IMPLEMENTING GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH. Depression and Anxiety: The official journal of ADAA, 30, 503-505.
Lantz, M. M., Pieterse, A. L., & Taylor, T. O. (2018). A SOCIAL DOMINANCE THEORY PERSPECTIVE ON MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, OnlineFirst.
Lee, A., & Khawaja, N. G. (2013). MULTICULTURAL TRAINING EXPERIENCES AS PREDICTORS OF PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS' CULTURAL COMPETENCE. Australian Psychologist, 48(3), 209-216.
Luhrmann, T. M., Ramachandran, P., & Tharoor, H. (2015). DIFFERENCES IN VOICE-HEARING EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE WITH PSYCHOSIS IN THE USA, INDIA AND GHANA. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 206, 41-44.
Okazaki, S. (2009). IMPACT OF RACISM ON ETHNIC MINORITY MENTAL HEALTH. Perspectives On Psychological Science, 4(1), 103-107.
Wainberg, M. L., Lu, F. G., & Riba, M. B. (2016). GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH. Academic Psychiatry: The Journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry, 40(4), 647-649.
Watkins, M. (2015). PSYCHOSOCIAL ACCOMPANIMENT. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 334-341.
Watters, E. (2010). CRAZY LIKE US: THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHE. New York, NY: Free Press.
|
Examinations and Assignments:
Two quizzes, one exam, one presentation, one paper. Participation in class discussion and an online forum. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Psyc 105 is a prerequisite. This is a column 3 Breadth Requirement course in Psychology. |
| Instructor(s): Kamens,Sarah R. Times: ....R.. 07:10PM-10:00PM; Location: JUDD116; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 40 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 4 | JR non-major: 4 | SO: 17 | FR: 6 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 9 | 1st Ranked: 2 | 2nd Ranked: 3 | 3rd Ranked: 2 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
|
|