Abstract
A. Irving Hallowell challenged those involved in cross-cultural research to establish the categories used for making comparisons through an examination of how experience is endowed with meaning within the context of culturally constituted behavioral environments. Here, published comparative frameworks for explanations of illness are considered in light of findings from research in two culturally distinctive settings. Adopting Hallowell's behavior-centered orientation, I suggest that following actual cases in a systematic manner is critical to understanding the range of explanatory frameworks in a cultural setting, as well as the relative importance of available explanatory frameworks as cultural resources when dealing with illness. Taking Hallowell's challenge seriously requires that anthropologists maintain an openness to change in the categorical abstractions used to reflect epistemological and ontological realities in diverse environments.
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