Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2001 Sep; 24(3): 507-22, viii.

Psychotherapy in cultural contexts.

Littlewood R.

Departments of Anthropology and Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom.

This article examines gender politics, culture, and race, as well as therapy and social transition, as they relate to psychotherapy in cultural contexts. Examples of gender politics in Kenya and Somalia are discussed. Rites of passage as they relate to psychiatric illness also are discussed. "Therapeutic cure" as defined in various cultures also is reviewed.