Exotic deviance: medicalizing cultural idioms--from strangeness to illness

Abstract

This is a seminal study of Western psychiatric interpretations of some of the most bizarre behaviours so strange by modern Western standards that they are assumed to be illnesses of disorders - latah, koro, and dance mania. Psychiatrists making these diagnoses draw heavily on Eurocentric values and assumptions. The book examines Otherness with an emphasis on Western understanding and acceptance, explaining that these behaviours are rational outcomes of unfamiliar symbol systems and worldviews and are a testament to the power of human imagination and creativity.