6. South America, Central America, and the Garibbean

Abstract

This section opens with a review of a book by L. ROGLER and A. HOLLINGSHEAD on schizophrenia in relation to social and cultural factors in Puerto Rico. Interesting findings are reported on Puerto Rican notions regarding schizo phrenia and schizophrenics, and on the reversal of male and female roles between husbands and wives in families where the husband suffers from schizophrenia. M. H. BEAUBRUN, who had previously expressed doubts as to the rarity of alcoholism in the British West Indies, reports a great increase of cases of alcoholism after better treatment facilities had been organized in Trinidad and Tobago. In his study of the treatment of alcoholics in these islands, he found important differences between the East Indian and the Negro groups. Among his findings are the unexpected and original functions of Alcoholics Anonymous. R. L. CURRIER studied Mexican medical folk beliefs and practices in relation to the hot-cold and wet-dry notions. He proposes interesting hypotheses concerning the importance of the hot-cold syndrome in Mexican and Spanish-American societies. In T. S. LANGNER'S study, two samples of Mexicans (Mexico City and Tehuatepic) are compared as to the frequency of psychophysiological symptoms in relation to the status of women. On the basis of comparisons between East Indian, Negro and other groups of patients, F. D. McCANDLESS attempts to assess the dynamics of suicide as symptomatic of defective mechanisms in the expression of emergency behavior, and mainly in the expression of rage. Finally, P. SINGER, E. ARANETA and L. AARONS show how Western psychiatric practices work alongside indigenous healing practices in British Guiana.