Crazy Like Us

I struggled every year to figure out how to best integrate cross-cultural psychology research into my classroom. It was too "big" and diverse to be relegated to a subtopic in Social psychology, but I had trouble finding enough good resources for each of the other chapters. Matsumoto's cross cultural texts are great but they can be overwhelming and much of what he dives in to goes far beyond what we talk about in high school psychology.

I think Ethan Watters's book Crazy Like Us might one good answer to this dilemma. (Full disclosure: Mr. Watters sent the authors of this blog a couple copies of the book to look at - thanks!). Mr. Watters summarizes his incredible research very effectively and accessibly (longest reference section I've seen in QUITE a while - he was VERY careful in his scholarship). Each of the sections of the book looks at the "spread" of a diagnostic model/paradigm into a specific culture, including:

• Anorexia in Hong Kong
• PTSD in Sri Lanka
• Schizophrenia in Zanzibar
• Depression in Japan

The most profound/sad/startling section to me was "The Wave that Brought PTSD to Sri Lanka." Watters carefully describes how well meaning (heroic, in many ways?) American psychologists descended on Sri Lanka after the tsunami to help with the expected epidemic of PTSD. Watters found good evidence that media blitz about PTSD may have created powerful expectations about the disorder, interfering with diagnosis and treatment. This focus ignored established cultural norms for dealing with stress and grief. Watters does a great job avoiding blame - he carefully walks us through how the DSM notions of mental illness may be influencing other cultures.

A blog post is far too short to discuss the ideas/issues raised in this book, all of which could be used to start great discussions in your classroom. I encourage you to get the book and take a look. I expect you'll be as intrigued, surprised, saddened, and reflective as the book made me.

Other notes: students might enjoy Ethan Watters appearance on the Daily Show and his publisher's website has other related resources.


posted by Rob McEntarffer