Abstract
G. SAENGER'S paper deals with the results of a systematic comparison of the characteristics of patients seen in selected outpatient psychiatric services in the Netherlands and in the United States. He developed a checklist of fifty items covering syndromes, some symptoms, and a method of rating role performance or functioning in a number of fields. Problems which he encoun tered are discussed, e.g., difficulties in translation (English to Dutch), differences in diagnostic methods, and cultural variations in social functioning. S. MB. B. DIOP studied the psychological effects of transplantation of African Negroes to France. Striking features of the African patients in France are the high frequency of acute delusional psychosis and the frequency of depressive states associated with feelings of anxiety. Although no psychopathological manifesta tions can be identified which can be regarded as specific for African Negroes, Diop believes that the symbolic meaning of their symptoms ought to be viewed against the history of African Negroes, i.e., slave trade and colonization.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.