Fabrega H
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, PA 15212.
J Nerv Ment Dis. 1989 Jul;177(7):415-25; discussion 426-30. doi: 10.1097/00005053-198907000-00005.
Psychiatry has had a long-standing association with sociology and, especially, cultural anthropology. These social sciences have been influential in developing the concept of cultural relativism and applying it to psychiatry, sometimes in a challenging way and with much detriment. The concept has been used by some antipsychiatrists in attempts to discredit psychiatric practice. Contemporary psychiatrists endorsing a form of biological determinism have tended to either disregard the concept or judge it as trivial if not nonsensical. This study describes the concept of cultural relativism, reviews its applications to illness, and analyzes its implications from a historical and theoretical point of view. Its varied aspects, power, and limitations are discussed.
精神病学与社会学，尤其是文化人类学有着长期的联系。这些社会科学在发展文化相对主义概念并将其应用于精神病学方面发挥了重要作用，有时这种应用方式具有挑战性且造成了很大危害。一些反精神病学家利用这一概念试图诋毁精神病学实践。支持某种形式生物决定论的当代精神病学家往往要么忽视这一概念，要么认为它即便不是荒谬的也是微不足道的。本研究描述了文化相对主义的概念，回顾了其在疾病方面的应用，并从历史和理论角度分析了其影响。文中讨论了它的不同方面、影响力和局限性。
