Kölner Beiträge zur Ethnopsychologie und Transkulturellen Psychologie 6

Kölner Beiträge zur Ethnopsychologie und Transkulturellen Psychologie 6 (Cologne Contributions to Ethnopsychology and Transcultural Psychology 6). H. Stubbe and C. dos Santos-Stubbe (Ed.). Göttingen: V&R unipress. 2005. 147 pp. 

Reviewed by: Huub Beijers, Symfora Group, Amersfoort/The Netherlands.

The sixth edition of the series ‘Cologne Contributions to Ethnopsychology and Transcultural Psychology’ is a bundle of contributions (mainly in German) of six authors, edited by two German psychology professors, Hannes Stubbe and Chirly Dos Santos-Stubbe. The series (since 1995) is motivated by and indebted to the looming relevance, in a globalizing world, of transcultural social sciences. This edition includes the following contributions: Psychiatrie in Nigeria by Alexander Boroffka; "As crianças são as flores que nunca murcham:" Notas sobre abuso sexual de crianças em Mozambique [Children are flowers that never wither: Notes on the sexual abuse of children in Mozambique] by Boia Efraime Junior; Arbeitsplatz Globus – Kulturelle Unterschiede als Störvariabele [Workingplace globe – Cultural differences as bias] by Christin-Melanie Fuchs; HIV/AIDS und Buddhismus by Carsten Klöpfer; Erinnerungsprozesse in der postkolonialen Gesellschaft [Memory processes in post-colonial society] by Astrid Messerschmidt; and Interkulturelle Trainingsmethoden im empirischen Vergleich [An empirical comparison of intercultural training methods] by Iris Wangermann.

The book opens with a report of Alexander Boroffka of a joint conference of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria and the Transcultural Section of the World Psychiatric Association in Abeokuta/Nigeria in 2001. Boroffka is a psychiatrist and one of the pioneers of clinical psychiatry in Nigeria. Boroffka’s report is a ‘Nestor-story’, in honor of his Nigerian colleagues and hosts, and testifying to his strong involvement with the development of psychiatry in Nigeria.

Two interesting contributions, of Boia Efraime Junior (written in Portuguese) and Carsten Klöpfer, focus on the relevance of local perceptions (risk factors and preventive measures) of health problems for the development of treatment and public health programs in northern Thailand and in Mozambique.

Efraime Junior explores sexual abuse of children in Mozambique. Like in many other Lusophone countries conclusive prevalence figures seem to be lacking and children are especially at risk during their young-adolescent years, when parental (and ancestral) protection ceases and adulthood is presumed. Although sexual abuse of children is perceived as absolutely non-acceptable, as a fundamental breach with social order and devastating to a child’s development, double standards are not uncommon. For example Efraime Junior observes that the suffering of female victims can be “resolved” through marriage with the offender, or financial compensation of her family. Sexual abuse of children was highly prevalent during the recent period of civil war in Mozambique, as 63 percent of children who were involved in the hostilities, as child soldiers or helping hands, suffered from this type of abuse.

Compared to the work of the Mozambican psychologist Igreja (2003) Efraime Junior is cautious in his exploration of indigenous ways of dealing with the aftermaths of civil war. Igreja describes the resilience of post civil war Mozambican communities, and argues that indigenous recovery and remembrance practices are more appropriate and effective than the Western informed PTSD-programs. It would be interesting to follow this argument in the case of recovery from sexual abuse. Carsten Klöpfer seems to stress a similar point of view in his contribution to the book, as he describes the role of Buddhism in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Thailand. HIV/AIDS is transforming into a chronic illness (Fee and Fox 1992, Omran 1971) and in the local Thai context Buddhist values (focus on spiritual and emotional, instead of physical suffering) are a better fit in treatment and prevention programs.

Christin-Melanie Fuchs describes her empirical study on Brazilian “labor-culture.” In a globalizing economy and a multinational corporate environment, she argues, misunderstandings of cultural differences are counterproductive. Fuchs’ goals are rather weighty, as she heads for the identification of Brazilian cultural standards. In her research-design German corporate executives identify critical incidents in their interaction with Brazilians. This “critical incident technique,” developed in the 1950’s must have met many critiques since it defines culture as “otherness” and bias, and it is not surprising that some of the resulting standards are bluntly negative. For example Fuchs identifies the Brazilian cultural standard “orientation on the present,” characterized as “not keeping of appointments, short-term planning, pragmatism and opportunism.” I fear the ethnocentric impulse lying in wait in this type of research. Historical awareness of the connection of anthropology to former colonizing powers should keep us watchful, especially concerning the role of social scientists in the context of globalization.

The most fascinating chapter in this bundle is written by Astrid Messerschmidt, who reflects on the pressure on the collective German remembrance of the Holocaust in the context of globalization and immigration. Through the growing diversity of identities in current Germany it is increasingly inadequate to conceive remembrance practices of the Holocaust as (just) German. This theme is interesting in the context of the crisis of the conception of Western European societies as multicultural and of the widespread criticism on multiculturalism. In the best traditions of “critical theory” Messerschmidt looks for syntheses in “constellations” of different remembered histories. Hybridity is the key concept she uses in this, not to indicate a simple diffusion of cultures and confirmation of the idea that “pure cultures” or “pure identities” are a reality, but to elucidate the necessity of a sublimation of different identities, in need of reworking of remembrances. This chapter is an excellent example of how a specific issue (remembrance) can be used as a lens for understanding broader aspects of integration, globalization and community dynamics.

The concluding chapter of the book describes the results of an effect-study of a cognitive versus an experiential training in intercultural competence. The researcher (Iris Wangermann) conducted her study in a social-psychological laboratory setting, with students, and found no significant differences in effectivity. The limitations of this setting and the fact that she only looked for short-term effects both seem in need of further exploration.  

On its cover page the Cologne Contributions are presented as contributions from ethnopsychology and transcultural psychology to a globalizing world. The book would gain impact however, if completed with more editorial guidance, introduction to the authors and reflection on the relation between the themes addressed by the contributors and the overall theme of globalization. As a reader I was left in obscurity about the intentions of the editors. This mere fact does not reflect the quality of the separate chapters, but makes the book an enumeration of views and data, which leaves the question unanswered what possibly should be considered as the surplus value of their bundling.

Fee, E., and D. M. Fox

1992 Contemporary historiography of AIDS. In Aids the making of a Chronic Disease. Elisabeth Fee and Daniel Fox, eds. Pp. 1-19. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Igreja, V.

2003 "Why are there many drums playing until the dawn?" Exploring the role of local resources on post-war recovery: The Gamba, a new type of healers in Gorongosa, Mozambique Central. Transcultural Psychiatry 40(4):459-487.

Omran, A.

1971 The epidemiological transition. A theory of the epidemiology of population change. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 49(4):509-538.