Psychological Anthropology - 9781405105767

BLACKWELL ANTHOLOGIES IN SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

"The best introduction currently available for the study of psychological experience and cultural contexts around the world, prepared by the leading psychological anthropologist in the field today."-Thomas S. Weisner, University of California, Los Angeles

Through selected articles LeVine demonstrates how psychological anthropology developed as a unified field of study that continues to influence our understanding of social theory, society, and self. Psychological Anthropology: A Reader on Self in Culture presents a series of illuminating readings from recent and classical literature that offer a rich diversity of insights into psychological anthropology. First tracing the growth of the field, LeVine and the authors then explore the cultural relativity of emotional experience and moral concepts among diverse peoples, the Freudian influence, and recent psychoanalytic trends in anthropology. Further readings address childhood and the acquisition of culture, an ethnographic focus on the self as portrayed in ritual and healing, and how psychological anthropology illuminates social change.

Psychological Anthropology: A Reader on Self in Culture is the first reader in decades to combine new historical insights with recent original research and bridges our understanding of the relationship of individuals to their societies.