Soc Sci Med. 1988 ; 27(8): 769-78.

Folk medicine in Laos: a comparison between two ethnic groups.

Westermeyer J.

Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, MN 55455.

Folk healing was studied in two ethnic groups of Laos during the period 1965-75. Hmong, mostly illiterate and animistic, lived in highly autonomous villages within an atomistic society, occupying remote and sparsely populated mountains. Lao, mostly literate and Buddhist, lived in lowland towns and villages within a hierarchical and integrated society, occupying the densely populated Mekong flood plain. Folk healing systems of both groups demonstrated similarities regarding folk syndromes and folk modalities. Differences included more complex theories about illness, greater number of folk practitioner types and greater differentiation of the shaman role (i.e. into separate priest and healer roles) in the more complex Lao society.