AP41804


 * Science Summary **

Dr. Tanya Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology at Stanford University, and colleagues conducted a case study to compare the experiences of people suffering from schizophrenia around the world. Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder in which a person loses touch with reality, and is commonly characterized by hallucinations delusions (Woods, 394). After interviewing diagnosed patients within the cities of San Mateo, California, Accra, Ghana, and Chennai, India – 20 in each location – the researchers noticed that, although there were many similarities in the subjects’ descriptions of their disorder, there were distinct differences when comparing them across cultures (Luhrmann). Schizophrenics residing in the United States discussed their disorder in a more scientific way, using proper psychiatric terms; 14 of them claimed that the voices in their heads were violent, and few of these patients told of having a relationship with their voices (Luhrmann). The patients that lived in Ghana and India, however, described their schizophrenia in a more pleasant way; those in India told of how the voices they heard would be of their ancestors’, and many of the interviewees in Ghana believed that they heard God (Luhrmann). It was also uncommon among the Indian and Ghanaian samples to find negative and/or violent experiences. According to their findings, it is plausible that schizophrenia’s effects are influenced by the culture in which it is surrounded. Those in the Western Hemisphere are more used to an individualist culture, where hearing voices in your head does not emphasize independence, so patients would want to view their symptoms negatively (Wood, 365). In the Eastern Hemisphere, where a more collectivist culture is common, people would typically describe their symptoms in a more positive and friendly way (Wood, 365). However, as Barrett’s Law #9 states, beware the plausible, especially if it works.


 * References:**

Wood, Samuel E., Ellen R. Green. Wood, and Denise Roberts. Boyd. //Mastering the World of Psychology//. Fourth ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

Luhrmann, T., Padmavati, R., Tharoor, H., & Osei, A. (2014). Differences in voice-hearing experiences of people with psychosis in the USA, India and Ghana: interview-based study The British Journal of Psychiatry DOI: [|10.1192/bjp.bp.113.139048]

Only graders edit below this line!

Grader #1: 1407010819] Grader #2: 1407176453 Grader #3: 1407362309] Grader #4: 1407363254] Grader #5: 1407363976] =Grading Form= media type="custom" key="25032734"