Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Foreword by Robert Sapolsky
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- SECTION ONE HISTORICAL, CROSS-CULTURAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES
- SECTION TWO HOW EXPERIENCE INTERACTS WITH BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
- SECTION THREE FORMATIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN AND ACROSS GENERATIONS
- SECTION FOUR SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT – NORMATIVE SETTINGS, PRACTICES, AND CONSEQUENCES
- 11 Ethnographic Case Study: Inuit Morality Play and the Danish Medical Officer
- Commentary
- Commentary
- 12 Ontogenetic Perspectives on the Neurobiological Basis of Psychopathology Following Abuse and Neglect
- 13 Ethnographic Case Study: Maria – Cultural Change and Posttraumatic Stress in the Life of a Belizean Adolescent Girl
- Commentary
- Commentary
- 14 Sex/Gender, Culture, and Development: Issues in the Emergence of Puberty and Attraction
- SECTION FIVE FEAR, FUN, AND THE BOUNDARIES OF SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
- SECTION SIX PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
- Index
- References
Commentary
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2010
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Foreword by Robert Sapolsky
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- SECTION ONE HISTORICAL, CROSS-CULTURAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES
- SECTION TWO HOW EXPERIENCE INTERACTS WITH BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
- SECTION THREE FORMATIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN AND ACROSS GENERATIONS
- SECTION FOUR SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT – NORMATIVE SETTINGS, PRACTICES, AND CONSEQUENCES
- 11 Ethnographic Case Study: Inuit Morality Play and the Danish Medical Officer
- Commentary
- Commentary
- 12 Ontogenetic Perspectives on the Neurobiological Basis of Psychopathology Following Abuse and Neglect
- 13 Ethnographic Case Study: Maria – Cultural Change and Posttraumatic Stress in the Life of a Belizean Adolescent Girl
- Commentary
- Commentary
- 14 Sex/Gender, Culture, and Development: Issues in the Emergence of Puberty and Attraction
- SECTION FIVE FEAR, FUN, AND THE BOUNDARIES OF SOCIAL EXPERIENCE
- SECTION SIX PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
- Index
- References
Summary
As colleagues with different personal and professional backgrounds working together on Inuit mental health research, we found that Jean Briggs's chapter evoked quite different responses. Karla Jessen Williamson is an Inuk anthropologist, Laurence Kirmayer a Euro-Canadian psychiatrist. Our contrasting responses illuminate both the richness and the controversies inherent in Briggs's insightful work and touch on persistent dilemmas in cross-cultural research. In this commentary, we will present some of our respective reflections separately and conclude with some points of convergence.
JESSEN WILLIAMSON: COSMOCENTRISM AND INUIT CHILDREARING
“Naak silavit qeqqa?” This question roughly translates into “Where is the middle of your universe?” My youngest paternal aunt asked me that question in a demanding tone. A totally dumbfounded, awe-struck six-year-old, I was hit by waves of sensation at the prospect of having to locate in my body the very part that housed my intellect, the air that I breathe, and my universe. I looked around at the air surrounding us, seeking the middle of my universe and my intellect; in desperation, I slowly pointed between my eyes! My aunt laughed and laughed. I was never sure whether she took my response seriously, or whether it merely satisfied her need for joking and teasing me.
Sila is the root of the word silavit, and Inuit use it to refer to air, weather, intellect, knowledge, integratedness, wisdom, and the external. MacDonald (1998, p. 35) describes sila as “an indicator of environment, an indicator of locality, and an indicator of intelligence or spirit.”
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Formative ExperiencesThe Interaction of Caregiving, Culture, and Developmental Psychobiology, pp. 299 - 307Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
References
(1972). A theory of play and fantasy. In G. , Steps to an ecology of mind (pp. 177–193). New York: Ballantine Books.Google Scholar
(1970). Never in anger: Portrait of an Eskimo family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
(1998). Inuit morality play: The emotional education of a three-year-old. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
(1965). Saunik: Name sharing as a factor governing Eskimo kinship terms. Ethnology, 4, 323–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2007). The social determinants of elevated rates of suicide among Inuit youth. Indigenous Affairs, 4, 1–37.Google Scholar
. (1992). The cultural ecological perspectives of Canadian Inuit: Implications for child rearing and education. (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.Google Scholar
. (2006). Inuit post-colonial gender relations in Greenland. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland.Google Scholar
, , , , & (2001). Just teasing: A conceptual analysis and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 127(2), 229–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(2007). Psychotherapy and the cultural concept of the person. Transcultural Psychiatry, 44(2), 232–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, , & (1997). Suicide among the Inuit of Canada. In , , , , & (Eds.), Suicide in Canada (pp. 189–211). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
, , , & (1994). Inuit concepts of mental health and illness: An ethnographic study (Working Paper No. 4). Montreal: Culture & Mental Health Research Unit, Institute of Community & Family Psychiatry, Jewish General Hospital.
, , & (2008). Locating the ecocentric self: Inuit concepts of mental health and illness. In & (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 289–314). Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
, , & (2008). The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Transformations of identity and community. In & (Eds.), Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (pp. 3–35). Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
(1998). The Arctic sky: Inuit astronomy, star lore and legend. Toronto: the Royal Ontario Museum and Nunavut Research Institute.Google Scholar
(1974). Eskimo underground: Socio-cultural change in the Central Arctic. Uppsala: Institutionen for allman och jamforende etnografi Uppsala Universitet.Google Scholar
Accessibility standard: Unknown
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this chapter is currently unknown
and may be updated in the future.
- 5
- Cited by