Abstract
Does mental health decline when people are exposed to rapid sociocultural change? This much-debated question is treated in a masterly manner in A. INKELES' and D. H. SMITH'S report on a large survey of reactions to modern ization in six countries. B. P. DOHRENWEND, G. EGRI, and F. S. MENDELSOHN examine the problem of variations in clinical judgments made by psychiatrists from written records of interviews and from their actual interviewing of sub jects. Interesting differences are found in relation to socioeconomic status and impressions of symptomatology. In a valuable book on drunken comport ment studied cross-culturally, C. MACANDREW and R. B. EDGERTON endeavor to show that there is no apparent relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the exhibition of disinhibited behavior. The cultural differences described by these authors are explained by different types of socialization with regard to each society's knowledge and conception of drunkenness. The last paper of this section by W. M. PFEIFFER summarizes differences found in various cultures in relation to recognition of psychological disturbance, diagnosis and interpretation, and attitudes and actions towards the mentally ill.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.