Gersonius, Sanne
(2017)
Therapy and jinn in the Dutch mental health care system.
Master thesis, Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation.
Abstract
This thesis examines how different cultural understandings and practices of mental health are negotiated and addressed between mental health care professionals and Muslim clients with a North- or West-African background in the Netherlands. It is based within the field of medical anthropology and considers illness and healing to be cultural phenomena. After establishing that the Dutch mental health care exhibits medical pluralism, in which different therapeutic systems coexist in one cultural setting, it examines how clients and therapists relate to each other within this setting. For this thesis, eleven interviews have been conducted with mental health professionals, mostly psychiatrists and psychologists. Because most of the interviewees work within intercultural mental health care, this thesis mostly focuses on this field. A result of this research is that different understandings of mind and body by therapist and client play an important role in addressing cultural differences. Next to this general finding, other findings concern the different cultural background of therapists and the role this plays in addressing and negotiating cultural differences. Therapists with a Dutch-Moroccan background seem to be better able to relate to and engage with the client, which results in a more equal negotiation. Therapists with a Dutch background seem to put their own perspective on the forefront and they regard this as most important, which results in a more unequal negotiation. However, despite these differences, all therapists agree that the most way of addressing cultural differences is by respecting and listening to the client and his or her explanations of illness. This results in a trustful therapist-client relationship, which improves the quality of the treatment.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Bartelink, B.E. | B.E.Bartelink@rug.nl | | | | Knibbe, K.E. | K.E.Knibbe@rug.nl | | |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation |
| Academic year: |
2016- 2017 |
| Date of delivery: |
01 Sep 2017 |
| Last modified: |
01 Sep 2017 13:51 |
| URI: |
https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/284 |
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