This book captures the history, lifestyles and beliefs of Caribbean people relating them without impunity to the psychology of their emotion, thought and behaviour. This book studies research on the background of historical perspectives, definitions, dimensions and a Caribbean Diaspora, the interpretation of behaviours and mental disorders with contributions from witchcraft, priestcraft and science, as well as the challenge of the local interpretation of mental illness.

As psychiatry has developed it has proved to be susceptible to the influence of contemporary social and political mores. With its origins in nineteenth-century Europe, psychiatry evolved as an ethnocentric body of knowledge, the vehicle of implicit and overt racism. Originally published in 1988 this author, however, saw no reason why the contemporary psychiatrist should not challenge this ethnocentrism. He provides a critical account of the development of psychiatry in relation to its cultural context and then examined contemporary practice of the time in the light of this development. Throughout, the book is informed by an awareness of issues of race and culture and of their difficult interactions, the author emphasising both the frequency of racist attitudes and the very real cultural distinctions in our society, distinctions that can be used to mask what are actually racist sentiments. What emerges is not just a plea for an anti-racist, culture sensitive psychiatry, but a blueprint for how this can be brought about. He argued that the shift towards community work and social psychiatry could reorientate the profession by confronting it with its social setting and responsibilities. This book represented a significant contribution to this literature for all mental health professionals and social scientists with an interest in this field at the time; the author has gone on to write many more.

This book is the second publication originating from the conference Legacy of Slavery and Indentured Labour: Past, present and future, which was organised in June 2013, by the Institute of Graduate Studies and Research (IGSR), Anton de Kom University of Suriname. The articles are grouped in four sections. Section one concentrates on indenture in the Caribbean and the IndianOcean and includes four diverse, but inter-related chapters and contributions. These reveal some newly- emerging, impressive trends in the study of indenture, essentially departing from the over used neo-slave scholarship. Not only are new concepts explored and analysed, but this section also raises unavoidable questions on previously published studies on indenture. Section two shows that there are many areas that need to be re-examined and explored in the study of indenture. The chapters in this section re-examine personal narratives of indentured labourers, the continuous connection between the Caribbean and India as well as education and Christianization of Indians in Trinidad. The result is impressive. The analysis of personal accounts or voices of indentured servants themselves certainly provides an alternative perception to archival information written mostly by the organizers of indenture. Section three in this volume focuses on ethnicity and politics. In segmented societies like Suriname, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago institutional politics and political mobilization are mainly ethnically based. In Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana this has led to ethnic and political tensions. These themes are explored in these three articles. Section four addresses health, medicine and spirituality – themes which, until recently, have received little attention. The first article examines the historical impact of colonialism through indentureship, on the health, health alternatives and health preferences of Indo-Trinidadians, from the period between 1845 to the present. The second examines the use of protective talismans by Indian indentured labourers and their descendants. Little or no psychological research has been done on the spiritual world of Indian immigrants, enslaved Africans and their respective descendants, with special reference to the use of talismans.

The Caribbean and Oceania are understudied areas from a psychological perspective, and this book is designed to fill that knowledge gap. In addition to diverse, rich cultural traditions and abundant economic opportunity for some, these regions also reflect the challenges of modernity, including crime, poverty, ethnic tensions, adaptations to climate change, and disparities in health, education, and access to care. With contributions from noted psychologists in the Caribbean and Oceania, as well as experts from around the globe, this book provides nuanced examination of significant psychological issues in nations such as Fiji, Guyana, Belize, Haiti, Jamaica, and more. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals with an interest in this part of the world, will find this volume a rich resource, as will those generally interested in the relationship between culture and psychology. This book takes you on an outstanding journey of what is occurring in cultural psychology in the 21st century. It addresses the abundance of each nation through a transformational lens of current practices in psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone interested in sailing the high seas connecting the present with the endless possibilities of those who dare to journey into the waters of a divine future.”- Florence Denmark, Past-President, American Psychological Association "Chock full of expert knowledge and insights, Psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean is an indispensable resource for psychologists. A must-read that will expand your understanding of life in these regions and beyond! “- Pamela A. Hays, PhD, Author of Addressing Cultural Complexities in Practice "This is a breath-taking book in its coverage of the uniquely endowed psychology worlds of Oceania and the Caribbean. Now that Dr. Rich, Dr. Ramkumar, and colleagues have produced this awesome book volume on the cultural psychology of the rim water nations, I have a palpable sense of relief from their having addressed a huge gap in cultural psychology scholarship. This volume opens hitherto undreamed of opportunities for further studies on cultural practices in psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean!”- Elias Mpofu, PhD, DE.D, CRC, MAPS, Professor of Health Sciences at the University of North Texas, Honorary Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney and Executive Board member of the Australian Psychological Society’s Rehabilitation Psychology Interest Group "This book represents a vital exploration into the purpose and practice of Psychology in island nations. It is a welcome compilation of academic writings from sociocultural perspectives within Oceania and the Caribbean and serves as a landmark account of the unique forces shaping the development and evolution of Psychology in these states." - Gerard Hutchinson MD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

This book offers practical advice on the role that cultural factors play in the way psychiatric symptoms are presented to clinicians.

The Routledge International Handbook of Global Therapeutic Cultures explores central lines of enquiry and seminal scholarship on therapeutic cultures, popular psychology, and the happiness industry. Bringing together studies of therapeutic cultures from sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, politics, law, history, social work, cultural studies, development studies, and American Indian studies, it adopts a consciously global focus, combining studies of the psychologisation of social life from across the world. Thematically organised, it offers historical accounts of the growing prominence of therapeutic discourses and practices in everyday life, before moving to consider the construction of self-identity in the context of the diffusion of therapeutic discourses in connection with the global spread of capitalism. With attention to the ways in which emotional language has brought new problematisations of the dichotomy between the normal and the pathological, as well as significant transformations of key institutions, such as work, family, education, and religion, it examines emergent trends in therapeutic culture and explores the manner in which the advent of new therapeutic technologies, the political interest in happiness, and the radical privatisation and financialisation of social life converge to remake self-identities and modes of everyday experience. Finally, the volume features the work of scholars who have foregrounded the historical and contemporary implication of psychotherapeutic practices in processes of globalisation and colonial and postcolonial modes of social organisation. Presenting agenda-setting research to encourage interdisciplinary and international dialogue and foster the development of a distinctive new field of social research, The Routledge International Handbook of Global Therapeutic Cultures will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in the advance of therapeutic discourses and practices in an increasingly psychologised society.