Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I Theoretical background
- Part II Culture and mental health
- Part III Culture and mental disorders
- Part IV Theoretical aspects of management
- Part V Management with special groups
- 35 Intellectual disabilities across cultures
- 36 Child psychiatry across cultures
- 37 Management of sexual dysfunction across cultures
- 38 Refugees and mental health
- 39 Working with elderly persons across cultures
- 40 Working in liaison psychiatry
- Part VI Cultural research and training
- Cultural psychiatry: the past and the future
- Index
- References
35 - Intellectual disabilities across cultures
from Part V - Management with special groups
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I Theoretical background
- Part II Culture and mental health
- Part III Culture and mental disorders
- Part IV Theoretical aspects of management
- Part V Management with special groups
- 35 Intellectual disabilities across cultures
- 36 Child psychiatry across cultures
- 37 Management of sexual dysfunction across cultures
- 38 Refugees and mental health
- 39 Working with elderly persons across cultures
- 40 Working in liaison psychiatry
- Part VI Cultural research and training
- Cultural psychiatry: the past and the future
- Index
- References
Summary
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION
Learning disability, which is still known by the term mental retardation in many parts of the world, carries additional psychiatric morbidity with it. Not only are there implications for the individual but also for the carers and the community alike. Cultural practices such as consanguineous marriages may play a role in the aetiology of learning or intellectual disabilities. Other environmental factors, such as dietary deficiencies, may contribute to its causation. Rarely are these individuals seen as suffering from medical conditions, and thus help-seeking may be delayed. Co-morbidity with infections like cysticercosis and epilepsy make management of such individuals complex. The social relationships and educational attainments may influence outcome.
O'Hara and Bouras use the term intellectual disability as a complex label which involves an interaction between biogenetic and socio-cultural factors. The labelling of the condition is powerful and can result in an individual being excluded from mainstream society. Increased social distance without adequate management strategies with educational and psychological components means that individuals can become further isolated. O'Hara and Bouras point to historical evidence indicating how people with disabilities were seen over four millennia ago. The social response was partly determined by religion. Negative views towards individuals with disabilities have been reported for centuries. As social and gender roles of individuals vary across cultures, the concepts of social inclusion remain simply that – concepts only – in many cultures. Epidemiological data on prevalence of intellectual disability across cultures indicate differences which can be attributed to a number of factors. Mild intellectual disability is much more prevalent.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry , pp. 461 - 470Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
References
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