Fabrega H, Nutini H
Department of Psychiatry and Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, PA 15212.
Soc Sci Med. 1993 Mar;36(6):793-805. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(93)90040-b.
This paper describes results of a study in Tlaxcala, Mexico, involving the sudden death of infants and children that culturally are explained as resulting from the attack of blood-sucking witches. The attacks of the supernaturals are relatively common occurrences and an elaborate ideology has evolved to explain them. Such an ideology serves to explain what constitutes a major trauma of loss and supernatural assault. Data on a total of 47 cases were collected prospectively. The illness experiences of the parents following these traumas were recorded and their nature and consequences analyzed. The results of the study provide a 'folk medical' epidemiology of sudden infant death, a well identified cultural-ecological stressor. Ideas from cultural, psychological and medical anthropology as well as general medicine and psychiatry are used in the interpretation of the results.
本文描述了在墨西哥特拉斯卡拉进行的一项研究结果，该研究涉及婴儿和儿童的突然死亡，从文化角度来看，这些死亡被解释为是吸血女巫袭击所致。超自然力量的袭击是较为常见的事件，并且已经形成了一套详尽的观念体系来对此加以解释。这样的观念体系有助于解释什么构成了重大的丧失创伤和超自然攻击。前瞻性地收集了总共47个案例的数据。记录了父母在这些创伤后的患病经历，并对其性质和后果进行了分析。该研究结果提供了一种针对婴儿猝死的“民间医学”流行病学，这是一种已得到明确认定的文化生态应激源。在对研究结果的解读中运用了文化人类学、心理人类学、医学人类学以及普通医学和精神病学的观点。
