Reflections on current research and future challenges in cultural psychiatry

Abstract

This special issue of Transcultural Psychiatry evolved from a series of symposia organized by the Transcultural Psychiatry Section of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA-TPS) for the XV World Congress of Psychiatry, held in Buenos Aires in September 2011. WPA-TPS sponsored 10 symposia on the theme “current research in transcultural psychiatry in countries and regions around the world”, as well as an over-arching symposium on “culture and person-centered medical and psychiatric care” at the congress in Buenos Aires. The symposia on current research in transcultural psychiatry around the world, comprising more than 40 individual presentations, focused on developments in Britain, The Netherlands, German-speaking countries, Scandinavian countries, France, Russia, Spanish-speaking countries, Canada, USA, Caribbean countries and Asian-Pacific countries. Presentations at these symposia led to the series of six articles that comprise this special issue, concerning transcultural psychiatry research in Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and Australia. The articles include an assessment of the historical context of the development of cultural psychiatry research in each of the countries, current research themes, their scope and limitations, future directions of research, as well as issues and challenges confronting the future of cultural psychiatry. The history of transcultural psychiatry research has been characterized by efforts to establish the cross-cultural applicability and validity of psychiatric diagnostic categories. These efforts began by using standard “western” descriptive categories and diagnoses, then progressively recognizing the need to take account of the great variation in cultural conceptions of misfortune, illness, symptom expression, acceptance of the sick role, and both functional and social impairment. There is still lively debate in the field about “western diagnostic bias” and its universal, cross-cultural application on one hand, and cultural relativism, the long-term psychopathological effects of colonial exploitation, and the psychological effects of