Midterm Analysis Paper

Marissa Kelley
University of Wisconsin – Whitewater
March 24, 2018
Part I
As a senior at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater with a major in social work and
an individualized minor in public health, I have encountered various classes that focus on the
topics of health and medicine. I plan to utilize my education by building healthy alternatives and
programs for at risk and underserved populations. In the summer of 2018, I will be interning at
the University of Illinois – Chicago in the Pubic Health building. I will be working at a
community outreach program that serves current and former drug users, as well as those who
have HIV or Hepatitis. As a social work major, I have learned to be actively aware of the idea of
cultural competence, so this course has aligned with concepts I have previously studied.
Growing up in America, I have consistently experienced the biomedical model of
healthcare. In 2013, I was involved in a car accident that left me immobile for two and half
months. I was in the intensive care unit for five days following the accident. This occurrence
allowed me to observe western society’s belief in the physical and biological aspect of health and
their mainstream focus on pain management. After being discharged from the hospital, I was
assigned an at-home nurse to aid in pain management and attend to my other injuries. My
doctors and nurses frequently pushed Hydrocodone as a coping mechanism and never asked how
I was feeling emotionally after the trauma of the accident. I was a competitive cheerleader who
was training for the largest competition of the year and had to step away from practices. In
addition, I was forced to drop out of community college due to the inability to drive to campus
and walk to classes. The constant push for pain relievers and lack of mental health care
ultimately led me to the misuse of opiates. Thankfully, I was able to recognize my behavior
before it spiraled into an outright addiction. The aftermath of this incident caused me to become
cognizant and distrusting of the continual push for pain management and medication.

Part II
As this class has demonstrated thus far, social science research is imperative to the
continuous care and discoveries regarding health and illness. Social science research is embodied
by sociologists and anthropologists alike. Although there are various branches of sociology and
anthropology, the main focus remains the same. Both sociologists and anthropologists attempt to
understand and educate others under the circumstance that health incorporates cultural
conceptions, social connections, and human biology (Singer & Baer, 2011). Whereas social
science research concentrates on multiple constructs, biomedicine, or the “traditional”
westernized medical model, aims its attention towards human biology and physiology (Singer &
Baer, 2011).
To further explain, biomedicine focuses on solving a health related problem biologically;
therefore, concepts such as culture, religion, and environment are not considered in the diagnosis
or treatment of illness or disease. Contrary to biomedicine, social science adheres to the idea that
although there may be a present, diagnosable cause to a disease, the result of said disease is
conclusively the “…product of a chain of interacting factors related to ecosystem imbalances”
(Singer & Baer, p.37). The argument here relies on the notion that health is not solely impacted
by biology and physiology, thus it is critical to pay attention to the interaction of “cultural,
social, hierarchical, psychological, environmental and biological factors” (Singer & Baer, p.61).
Looking at health through this lens leads anthropologists to rely on copious varieties of research
methods. Instead of exclusively concentrating on scientific and quantitative factors, medical
anthropologists rely on research methods such as consensus data, diaries, focus group interviews,
quantitative and qualitative data, and cooperating with multiple fields (Singer & Baer, 2011).
 As previously discussed in lecture, a type of tension exists inside the realm of
anthropology. There are two common perspectives that are practiced when conducting research
as an anthropologist – theoretical perspective and applied perspective. According to Singer and
Baer (p.18), “some theoretical anthropologists identify the discipline’s mission as understanding
diverse pathways in human social life.” Those who practice the theoretical perspective are wary
of the biases that the applied perspective may initiate. They believe that by stepping in to assert
change, the rapport of “researcher” is lost. On the other hand, “applied anthropology is the
application of anthropological theories, concepts, and methods to solving problems in the world”
(Singer & Baer, p.18). To elaborate, this perspective focuses on exercising its theories and
methods to incite social change. Anthropologists who follow the applied perspective employ
their results in order to promote social change and combat inequality, rather than collect data and
become potential bystanders to inefficient stagnation.
Personally, I believe that both of these perspectives are essential in the field of
anthropology. It is necessary to partake in both collective data determining cause and effect, as
well as developing an insider perspective and addressing social inequalities. To quote Singer and
Baer (p.9), “… the theoretical contributions of the discipline are equally important and guide the
application of medical anthropology…” However, as a social work student, I lean more towards
the applied perspective due to its problem solving agenda. Remaining as an outsider of
understanding and not promoting social change seems to me as a waste of knowledge, power,
and social constructs. Mills (p.3) writes, “No social study that does not come back to the
problems of biography, of history and of their intersections within a society has completed its
intellectual journey.” His declaration is relevant to the topic of theoretical perspectives in social
anthropology because simply collecting data does not demonstrate a thorough comprehension
and application of the fact that human lives are impacted by the bigger picture.
In Mills’ (1959) article, The Promise, he proposes three influential questions to evaluate our
own society in order to achieve the end goal – the sociological imagination. Mills (1959)
suggests that in order to grasp the sociological imagination we must ponder:

1. How does history influence society?

2. What is the structure of society as a whole?
3. Who prevails in society and how do they benefit from power?

Evaluating these questions will allow society to “range from the most impersonal and remote
transformations to the most intimate features of the human self – and to see the relations between
the two” (Mills, p.4). To expand, Mills argues that looking into history, structure, and power will
grant the knowledge to understand the person in the environment. Once that concept is accepted,
we can begin to realize that personal troubles are parallel to milieu issues. An example of this
parallel is illustrated in Sargent’s (1988) Born to Die: Witchcraft and Infanticide in Bariba
Culture. With the public struggling to accept infanticide as a cultural protection of witchcraft,
hospital deliveries were encouraged. With these hospital deliveries, birth transformed “from a
domestic to a public concern…” (Sargent, p.86). He argues that our personal experiences are
influenced by the social structure within society. Consequently, in order to understand history,
structure, and power, we must process a deeper discern. Mills’ analysis of the influence of
history, society, and power is not only critical to the role of social sciences, but can also be used
to persuade policy makers to look at society as a whole, rather than individuals or small groups
of people. Executing consciousness of social structure and using it to understand that societal and
personal environments coincide is to possess the sociological imagination.

Part III
Historically and cross-culturally, the idea of health and health care contrast drastically.
The concept of “normal and natural” ways to remain healthy or practice health care depends on
the system in which the individual or society is involved in. Again, anthropology focuses on the
bigger picture, expanding its study from just the health problem in question, to the individual in
its environment and culture. Culture assumes a massive role in the definition of the word
“normal” in regards to health.
In general, the idea of normal practices of health care depend on the person and the
society in which they dwell. This idea has been presented multiple times throughout the course
thus far. For instance, birthing rituals of mothers in labor deviate quite drastically when
comparing western society to others. Singer and Baer discuss the dramatic contrast of American
birthing experiences from Poland. In America, although it is expected to endure labor pains, it is
not accepted as bearable resulting in the push for pain management and painkillers. Oppositely,
labor pains are accepted in Poland, leading to a minimal request for painkillers (Singer & Baer,
2011). In America, it is normal and natural to experience as little pain as possible with labor,
while the reverse is true for mothers in Poland. This type of difference brings about the argument
that pain and experience should be understood in a cultural context (Singer & Baer, 2011).
Additionally, the deviation of normal and natural exists in Galdwell’s (2000) article, John
Rock’s Error. Galdwell introduces Beverly Strassman’s research in her time spent with the
Dogon tribe of Mali in Africa. Strassman’s exploration concentrated on the menstruation of the
women in the tribe. For these women, repeated pregnancy is a natural occurrence - there is no
use of birth control. As the article notes, “Dogon women menstruate about a hundred times in
their lives,” compare that number to “the average for contemporary Western women…
somewhere between three hundred and fifty and four hundred times” (Galdwell, p.56). The
article goes on to indicate that to Strassman and colleagues, the stress of four hundred periods on
a woman’s body is not normal or natural, even though it is an ordinary occurrence for the
majority of Western women (Galdwell, 2000). The dissension between normal and natural are
evidently demonstrated when comparing two unlike cultures.
In the same fashion, there exists a contradiction between the “normal” way to treat illness
and disease among separate cultures. As previously mentioned, the biomedical model of western
society pays attention to the body. Singer and Baer (p. 101) note this by claiming “biomedicine
focuses on human biology…” On the contrary, there are many cultures that implement a humoral
system, correlating organs, body systems, and fluids to the natural world (Singer & Baer, p.84).
For instance, the Melpa village people of Papua New Guinea maintain a humoral system of
health. Their system includes blood, grease, and a complex hot/cool/cold distinction. In
particular, they believe that if blood becomes to hot, “it may dry up as a result of sorcery”
(Singer & Baer, p.85).
A key term in western society’s health care that creates the way we understand what
people need for health care involves the concept of medicalization. According to Singer and Baer
(p.109) medicalization is the process of “giving a condition or behavior a medical label, defining
the problem in medical terms, and using a medical intervention to treat it.” Medicalization is
heavily present in the biomedical model of medicine. This term is demonstrated when analyzing
multiple experiences cited so far in the course.
 To elaborate, chapter three of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Fadiman,
1997) discusses the Lee’s narrative of what happened to Lia the first day her symptoms began.
The Hmong community identifies Lia’s condition as “the spirit catches you and you fall down”
(Fadiman, p.20). However, medicalization coins the concept as epilepsy. To the Lees, Lia’s first
experience of a seizure was a sign of divine opportunity. To the Hmong community, epileptic’s
seizures “are thought to be evidence that they have the power to perceive things other people
cannot see…” (Fadiman, p.21). The medicalization perspective of Lia’s seizure was to diagnosis
her illness as epilepsy and treat it with a series of medications. Her epilepsy was a major concern
for her western doctors, while the Lee’s had reservations about their daughter’s illness, they also
felt a sense of pride. The western doctors were unaware of the Lee’s belief in spirits, destroying
their concerns without even hearing them. In addition, instead of relying on a medical
intervention, Lia’s father, “believed that the medications were causing the seizures and also the
fever” (Fadiman, p.51).
A similar instance of definitional dissonance exists in the instance of Susan McCombie’s
study of the American Southwest. In her research, she found that the word “flu” does not
constitute the same meaning among epidemiologists and the public (Singer & Baer, 2011).
Although members of the community were under the impression they suffered from the flu, they
did not actually meet the criteria to be diagnosed. This example presents the discrepancy among
medicalization among cultures, showing that “even when patients and healers use the same
disease labels, they may be, in effect, speaking different languages, or, more precisely,
marshaling different bodies of information and different understandings” (Singer & Baer, p.113).
Finally, the same dilemma is exhibited when considering Bariba culture. Sargent (1988)
discusses the parental perceptions of the cause of children’s death. When examining the causes
of death described by the respondents, it is evident that the informants do not typically use the
medicalization terms as we do. For example, many of the replies consisted of descriptions of the
death, rather than labeled phrases. These responses included “the baby moaned and died; he died
on the second day after crying all the time and never sleeping; on the third day, he became hot in
his body and died suddenly; his body, even his eyes became completely yellow and he died, at
home…” (Sargent, p.90). As we know and as Sargent writes, many of these descriptions
characterize known medical illnesses, like jaundice, for example. Although the Bariba are able to
identify these issues, they do not understand westernized medical terms, resulting in additional
cultural differences.
Medicalization in the western society is a different cultural approach to diagnosing and
dealing with illness and disease. It sticks to the realm of the biomedical model by excluding the
offering of cultural distinctions concerning health. Health culture in the western society currently
relies on the body. It is concerned with diagnosing and fixing the problem, using terms such as
illness and disease to label someone’s experience with sickness. Centering these labels as the
only correct term can essentially be a crucial error on medicalization as well. As mentioned by
Singer and Baer (p.113), “illness is defined as a subjective experience, while disease is an
objectively measured phenomenon.” The trouble with these labels is that “… it is possible for
sufferers to feel quite ill, but be told by their physicians that nothing is wrong or that their
problem is psychosomatic. In some cases, however, the real problem is that disease exists but is
unknown to biomedicine” (Singer & Baer, p.113). Accordingly, illness and disease are
experienced differently by everyone, which demonstrates the need for deeper interaction with
patients than biomedicine and medicalization offer.
 Biomedicine is a powerful social institution that the western society currently employs.
Its wide and common use can generate contention between people of contrasting cultures.
Controversy between biomedicine’s power and Hmong culture was established countless times
throughout The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. It is clear from the first couple of
chapters of the biography that there is a major miscommunication between the Hmong culture
and western society regarding health. In chapter four, Fadiman writes about the questions that the
Hmong community had about American doctors and healthcare. One of these questions was,
“When Hmong people die in the United States, is it true they are cut into pieces and put in tin
cans and sold as food?” (Fadiman, p.32). The practices that the United States medical care
participates in differ greatly than that of the Hmong community, provoking a large level of
mistrust and ill understanding of one another.
The Lees continuously experienced the contention between their own culture and
biomedicine’s institution. They could not fathom why the doctors were so intrusive with their
daughter and they did not understand the need for multiple medications, how to distribute them
properly, or what their main purpose was (Fadiman, 1997). A major dispute resulted in the loss
of Lia to the government - the western doctors did not understand why the Lee’s were not
administering the medication, which resulted in the idea of child neglect. If the doctors would
have taken time to understand the Lee’s and their culture, they would have realized that the Lee’s
did not run on a typical standard clock and they did not understand the medication (Fadiman,
1997).
Additionally, the Lees struggled with the power that American medicine seemed to have.
To the Lee family, the hospital had not only made their daughter sicker with the continuous
medication, but they also lost their custodial rights as a direct result of the doctors. Their mistrust
with American medicine and doctors was apparent throughout the book. To present a specific
example, after Lia experienced her major seizure that left her unresponsive, the doctors were
persistent that she would soon pass away. To the Lees, the doctor’s declaration of Lia’s death
was incomprehensible; the statements gave permission to the dab to take her away (Fadiman,
1997). When Lia was to be released from MCMC care to return home, the doctors presented Nao
Kao, her father, with a set of papers to sign. To Nao Kao, “he believed he was being forced to
sign a piece of paper that said his daughter was going to die in two hours, he did what any
Hmong in an impossible corner… might consider doing: he fled” (Fadiman, p.178). Nao Kao’s
actions severely agitated the western doctors, provoking a larger gap in their cultural
understanding for one another.

Part IV
Part A
A common theme of anthropology that has been addressed throughout the context of this
paper considers the fact that cultural belief systems influence how people define life experiences.
Over this course, the topics of death and reproduction were compared throughout multiple
cultures in the world. Different values throughout these cultures produced a great variance in the
acceptance of controversial aspects to life and death. Regardless of culture, death is an
occurrence that everyone experiences. However, the grief process is unique to individuals within
their society. Systems process death through different coping skills including burial,
disassociation, and even cannibalism.
To begin with the Wari’ tribe of western Brazil, they explain “their former practice of
consuming the dead in terms of indigenous theory of memory and grief that emphasizes the
body’s role in relationships and the effects of visual imagery in shaping emotional responses”
(Conklin, p.1253). In Wari’ society, cannibalism was performed in order to manage grief. This
symbolic system treated death through a process of regeneration and detachment. Conklin
(p.1256) writes, “death rites are structured around eradicating traces of the dead, affirming their
removal from the living community, and projecting images of the dead person’s move into a
new, different, and distanced state.” When consuming the deceased, the Wari’ believed they
were paying respect to that person and their family. In this culture, eating the “substance” of the
body elicited the transformation of the dead’s move from the community into ancestor-animals
(Conklin, 2007). The Wari’ understood the act of eating the dead as a duty, not a desire (Conklin,
2007). Evidently, spirituality, social constructs, and culture guided the Wari’ in their
management of the grief process.
Comparing the Wari’s treatment of death and body parts to western society, a lack of
spiritualism seems to illuminate from biomedicine. Lesley Sharp (2001) argues that in the United
States, human bodies and organs have frequently become commodified in the biomedical
context. To explain Sharp says, “cadavers and blood, for example, have long been viewed as
commercial goods that can be bought and sold for medical use” (Sharp, p.115). Biomedicine is
similar to the Wari’ in the instance that commodification is related to the detachment from the
dead. However, instead of conducting rituals to preserve the spirit of the deceased, western
society dehumanizes the dead by focusing on the body part not the spirt. By dehumanizing the
organs and cadavers, detachment from grief is able to procreate. Finally, in western society it is
atypical for kin to witness the removal of body parts from their dead loved one. For example,
Sharp (2001, p.128) discussed a case in which “a brain dead woman’s sister refused to grant
consent unless she could be present during the procurement…members of the procurement team
were deeply disturbed and even frightened by her insistence: kin should never witness the
physical destruction of a donor’s body.” Biomedical culture elicits this process as “destruction”
where the Wari’ would place it as their duty.
Similar to the topic of death, cultures vary in their customs and attitudes towards life and
reproduction. The Bariba tribe’s belief in witchcraft shapes the way in which they approach the
neonatal life. To elaborate, according to Sargent (1988, p.80), “witches figure prominently as
causes of misfortune believed to afflict human society…Witches are believed to present
themselves at birth, at which time they may be detected via the presence of certain stages.”
Babies that present these signs of witchcraft are either killed, left to die, or given to a
neighboring tribe as slaves. Witch children are believed to bring upon disaster, death, and illness
to the family (Sargent, 1988). In rural Bariba culture, infanticide is not viewed as grim or
immoral because infants do not become human until the age of two years old. The main purpose
of this cultural practice is to protect the family from witchcraft. This society demonstrates a
preponderant acknowledgement of mysticism.
Finally, although western society does not place focus on mysticism, its biomedical lens
of health is illustrated in the concept of abortion and prenatal screening. Prenatal screening tests
that were previously only offered to high-risk groups of pregnant women are now offered to
entire populations (Faden et al., 1987). Through the use of biomedicine, it is now “normal” for
western women to take these tests in order to divulge potential fetal abnormalities. Prenatal tests
such as Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening (NIPS) can detect serious genetic conditions such as
down syndrome (Carbonell, 2008). Mothers across western society are either considering or
executing the use of abortions. A study conducted by Faden et al. (1987) found that a majority of
women in the sample group rationalized abortion when there was a large risk of fetal
abnormality. In addition, the study found a positive correlation between the percent probability
of the fetus being affected by a neural tube defect and the number of women who said they
would have an abortion (Faden et al., 1987). Furthermore, in Denmark 98% of pregnant women
who tested positive for carrying a fetus with down syndrome chose to terminate the pregnancy.
Although these abortions are performed before the child is birthed, the western culture’s abortion
beliefs are parallel to the Bariba because they both aim to reduce their idea of a negative birth.

Part B
So far, this course has demonstrated the notion that culture shifts the ways in which
people practice certain health conditions and life events. Similar to the topics of death and
reproduction that were discussed, male circumcision customs change depending on culture. The
Xhosa indigenous tribe of South Africa participate in a circumcision ritual that celebrates the
coming of age for boys. Comparatively, circumcision in America is commonly performed in the
newborn stage not only due to religious beliefs but more so as a preventative care measure. The
basis and procedure of circumcision differ due to the historical, social, and economic context
within each system.
The Xhosa participate in an initiation ritual called Ulwaluko that is performed to honor
the transformation of boys to men (Magodyo, Andipatin, & Jackson, 2016). This ceremony has
been carried out for thousands of years within the Xhosa community. According to Magodyo et
al. (2016), the ceremony includes a cultural circumcision ritual in a hut of grass and afterwards
the males receive instructions regarding courtship, marriage traditions, sexual education, and
adult responsibilities. “Ulwaluko gives circumcised men power with greater rights,
responsibilities, a higher standing in society, and the power to appease ancestral spirits because
only ‘men’ can speak to the ancestors” (Magodyo, et al., 2016). Historically within this culture,
the initiation marks the proper incorporation of men into the religious and tribal life. Without
induction into manhood, a Xhosa member cannot marry, begin a family, or inherit familial
possessions. The fundamental intention for the circumcision is to promote manhood within the
Xhosa culture.
In America, male circumcision is typically performed during a baby’s newborn period of
life (American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP], 2012). Circumcision is a common procedure in
America, where 59.1% of males were circumcised over an eleven-year time span (APA, 2012).
The operation is generally conducted by obstetricians, family practitioners, and pediatricians
(Stang & Snellman, 1998). Customarily, parents make circumcision decisions after physician
consultation and education on the topic. Education about male circumcision revolves around the
potential benefits and risks of carrying out the procedure (APA, 2012). Ultimately, the parents
are given the choice within the first month after birth to circumcise their child or not. Although a
majority of circumcisions are performed in the newborn stage of life, some parents opt to wait
until the child can form their own opinion and decision about the procedure. However, it is
important to note that the APA states (p. e760), “…circumcision performed later in life has
increased risks and costs.”
From the brief explanations of circumcision rituals, it is clear that these two cultures take
opposite stands on the reasoning for the surgery. To elaborate, the Xhosa tribe focuses its
attention on the entering of manhood. It is imperative to consider historical and societal factors
when interpreting their understanding of the circumcision process. Unlike western society, the
Xhosa tribe is active in including spiritual matters in their healthcare practices. To explain, the
boys of this tribe are not considered valuable enough to communicate with their ancestors until
they have undergone the ritual. The idea of communicating with one day becoming an ancestor
after death is especially critical to the Xhosa (Magodyo et al., 2016). The study conducted by
Magodyo and colleagues interviewed seven participants that were willing to go against the taboo
nature of discussing the ritual to outsiders in order to divulge details about the ceremony.
Linking this discussion about the Xhosa to the earlier topic of natural and normal health, the
boys of the tribe believe that this initiation is a normal way of life. One participant claimed, “it is
not my choice; it is not anybody’s choice it’s something that has to happen” (Magodyo et al.,
p.348). Evaluating the custom through an anthropological lens, it is unmistakable that the custom
is heavily woven into history and society. As Magodyo et al. (p. 345) writes, “the ritual carries
social and cultural significance.” The culture of the tribe attests to the conformity of
circumcision as a rite of passage. Those who do not go through with the ritual are social outcasts
– “If you are a Xhosa and you haven’t gone to the mountain (undergone Ulwaluko) you are not a
man” (Magodyo et al., p.349).
Although the Xhosa men claim to have no choice in the matter, the procedure does not
happen without their knowledge and consent. However, this is not the case for most boys born in
America. As discussed throughout the duration of this paper, American medicine is centered
around the biomedical model. The idea of spirituality is not the main focus in the circumcision
process for newborn males in western society, rather the prime concern is that of infection and/or
disease prevention. The parents of newborn males in western society are often concerned with
the benefits of the procedure. When discussing whether or not to have the surgery, families
usually discuss topics such as urinary tract infections, penile cancer, and the transmission of HIV
and some sexually transmitted infections (APA, 2012). This standard medical practice does not
concentrate on manhood or spirituality.
Furthermore, the economic disparities among the Xhosa and the American cultures are
demonstrated by the actual execution of the excision. The American Academy of Pediatrics (p.
e757) writes, “Male circumcision should be performed by trained and competent practitioners,
by using sterile techniques and effective pain management.” Similarly, as formerly examined,
Stang and Snellman (1998) review the three medical practitioners that administer the process –
obstetricians, family practitioners, and pediatricians. For the Xhosa, the ritual is performed in a
temporary hut built of grass (Magodyo et al., 2016). The Xhosa rural people are the members
who continue to demonstrate these practices. Due to their lack of mainstream merge in society,
they do not have readily available access to sterile techniques and three forms of medical
doctors. Though men typically abide by the Xhosa culture, one participate displayed their distain
for the blind following of the culture by mentioning the issue with the circumcision procedure
carried out during the ritual. The informant stated, “… some people lose their penis trying this
culture and some die” (Magodyo et al., p.352). Additionally, Magodyo and colleagues (2016)
note the concern participants had with traditional circumcisions inducing poor health outcomes.
This discrepancy is partially due to the social repercussions the Xhosa have faced as a
result of their ritual. South African contemporary society and government have placed laws
against the tradition, unless the child can consent at eighteen years old or the parents grant
approval at sixteen years of age (Magodyo et al., 2016). In the United Sates, it is almost second
nature to review circumcision with a doctor and have it performed on your child after birth.
Finally, it is definite that the Xhosa tribe places an extensive amount of pressure on the male
children to complete Ulwaluko due to the value the society places on masculinity. While in the
United States, the compelling argument for the procedure is biomedical.
Part V: Full Bibliography

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