[Ethnopsychiatric observations apropos of the ritualization of deviation].

The author compares certain aspects of "conventional" and "traditional" psychiatry, on the basis of observations carried out within different traditional African cultures, particularly referring to ritual practices that have as object the treatment of mental disorders. The author underlines the importance of the attitude of the traditional healer. Nevertheless he stresses the major role played by the social structure that represents the frame of any therapeutic action.