Isaac Scientific Publishing

Psychology Research and Applications

Cultural and Local Concepts of Mental Illness among Rwandans Living in Finland and Belgium

Download PDF (279.9 KB) PP. 104 - 111 Pub. Date: December 6, 2019

DOI: 10.22606/pra.2019.14003

Author(s)

  • Jean d’Amour Banyanga*
    Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies, Social Science, Developmental Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Vasa, Finland

Abstract

The knowledge and understanding of cultural concepts of mental illness is essential to plan public mental health programs and aid projects in East and Central African countries. This study aims to understand the cultural concepts of mental illness and draw a useful framework that could inform the clinical practices of psychiatrists working with Rwandan people who were traumatized by their experiences during the 1994 genocide and its aftermath, living in Finland and Belgium. Questionnaires were dispatched in 27 different locations of Finland and Belgium in schools and churches (13 locations in Belgium & 14 locations in Finland). A total of 341 respondents (166 males, 175 females), 50 from Finland and 291 from Belgium, participated in the study. The findings show that Rwandans in Belgium were more satisfied than those living in Finland, with friends, religious leaders, and spiritual healers helping them to cope with their trauma. Rwandans in Finland, on the other hand, relied on traditional means (wedding and dance), medicines and the use of alcohol as a coping mechanism more than those living in Belgium.

Keywords

Culture, local concepts, mental disorder, mental illness, Rwandans

References

[1] Anderson, P., Menon, J. (2009). Violence performed: Local roots and global routes of conflict. New York: Palgrave and Macmillan.

[2] Banyanga, J. A., & Björkqvist, K. (2017). The dual role of religion regarding the Rwandan 1994 genocide: Both instigator and healer. Pyrex Journal of African Studies and Development, 3, pp. 1-12.

[3] Bernard, R. H. (2006). Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Lanham, Maryland: AltaMira Press.

[4] Blier, S. P. (1996). African vodun: Art, psychology, and power. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

[5] Bojuwoye, O. (2005). Traditional healing practices in Southern Africa: Ancestral spirits, ritual ceremonies, and holistic healing. In R. Moodley, &. W. West /Eds.). Integrating traditional healing practices into counseling and psychotherapy (pp. 61-72). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

[6] Broome, M. R. (2007). Taxonomy and ontology in psychiatry: A survey of recent literature. Philosophy, and Psychology, 13, pp. 303-319.

[7] Dallaire, R. (2003). Shake hands with the devil: The failure of humanity in Rwanda. New York: Carroll & Graf.

[8] Des Forges, A. L. (1999). Leave none to tell the story: Genocide in Rwanda. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch.

[9] Destexthe, A. (1995). Rwanda and genocide in the twentieth century. New York: New York University Press.

[10] Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity. (2012). Guidelines for responsible conduct of research and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct in Finland. http://www.tenk.fi/sites/tenk.fi/files/ HTK_ohje_2012.pdf

[11] Finnström, S. (2008). Living with bad surroundings: War, history, and everyday moments in northern Uganda. Durham: Duke University Press.

[12] Friedman, M. J., Keane, M. T. & Resick, A. P. (2007). Handbook of PTSD: Science and practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

[13] Furniss, G. M. (1994). The social context of pastoral care: Defining the life situation. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

[14] Gibson, R. L., & Mitchell, M. H. (1999). Introduction to counselling and guidance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

[15] Haffajee, R. L. (2006). Prosecuting crimes of rape and sexual violence at the ICTR: The application of joint criminal enterprise theory. Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, 29, pp. 201-221.

[16] Hitlin, S. (2011). Values, personal identity, and moral self. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, & V. L. Vignoles (Eds.), Handbook of Identity theory and research (pp. 515-429). New York, NY: Springer.

[17] Huysamen, G. K. (1994). Methodology for the social and behavioral science. Cape Town, South Africa: Oxford University Press.

[18] Jackson, M., & Karp, I. (1990). Personhood and Agency: The experience of self and other in African cultures. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University Press.

[19] Khawaja, N. G., White, K. M., Schweitzer, R., & Greenslade, J. (2008). Difficulties and coping strategies of Sudanese refugees: A qualitative approach. Transcultural Psychiatry, 45, pp. 489-512.

[20] Kpanake, L. (2018). Cultural concepts of the person and mental health in Africa. Transcultural Psychiatry, 55, pp. 198-218.

[21] Kpanake, L., & Ndoye, O. (2013). Counseling and psychotherapy in francophone West- Africa: Creating a future vision. In R. Moodley, U. P. Gielen, & R. Wu (Eds.). Handbook of counseling and psychotherapy in an international context (pp. 30-39). New York, NY: Routledge.

[22] Langberg, D. M. (1999). On the threshold of hope: Opening the door to hope and healing for sexual abuse. Wheaton, IL.: Tyndale.

[23] Maercker, A. (2015). You are not alone! The power and pitfalls of social contexts in PTSD. Keynote lecture at XIV Conference of European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, 11 June, Vilnius, Lithuania.

[24] Maercker, A., Schutzwohl, M., & Zahava, S. (1999). Post-traumatic stress disorder: A lifespan developmental perspective. Seattle &Toronto: Hogrefe & Huber.

[25] Marks, D. F., Murray, M., Evans, B., & Estacio, E.V. (2011). Health psychology: Theory, research and practice. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

[26] M?ls?, M., Kuittinen, S., Tiilikainen, M., Honkasalo, M. L., & Punam?ki, R. L.(2016). Mental health among older refugees: the role of trauma, discrimination, and religiousness. Aging & Mental Health, 21, pp. 829?837.

[27] Mouton, J. & Marais, H. C. (1996). Basic Concepts in the methodology of the social sciences. Pretoria, South Africa: Human Sciences Research Council.

[28] Munyandamutsa. N., Nkubamugisha, M. P, Gex-Fabry, M., Eytan, A. (2012). Mental and physical health in Rwanda 14 years after the genocide. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 47, pp. 1753–1761.

[29] Neimeyer, R. A. (2001). Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

[30] Nordstr?m, C. (1997). A different kind of story to tell. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.

[31] O’Connor, T. J. (1998). Clinical pastoral supervision and the theology of Charles Gerkin. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

[32] Paris, P. J. (1995). The spirituality of African people. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress.

[33] Perone, K. A. (2014). The Social construction of mental illness for lesbian. Gay, bisexual, and transgender persons in the United States. Qualitative Social Work, 13, pp. 766?771.

[34] Pham, P. N., Weinstein, H. M., & Longman, T. (2004). Trauma and PTSD symptoms in Rwanda: Implications for attitudes toward justice and reconciliation. JAMA, 292, pp. 602?612.

[35] Pronin, E. (2008). How we see ourselves and how we see others. Science, 320, pp. 1177?1180.

[36] Rob, W., & Rosalyn, D. C. (2014). Stigma, agency, and recovery amongst people with severe mental illness. Social Science & Medicine, 107, pp. 1?8.

[37] Rugema, L., Krantz, G., Mogren I., Ntaganira, J., & Persson, M. (2015). A constant struggle to receive mental health care: health care professionals acquired experience of barriers to mental health care services in Rwanda. BMC Psychiatry, 15 (1): 314.

[38] Rwebangira, M. K. (1996). The Legal Status of Women and Poverty in Tanzania. Uppsala, Sweden: Nordic African Institute.

[39] Tyrer, P. & Steinberg, D. (2005). Models for mental disorder: Conceptual models in psychiatry. Chichester: Wiley.

[40] United Nations. (2001). Report of the third United Nations conference on the least developed countries. Brussels, Belgium: United Nations General Assembly.

[41] World Health Organization. (2005). Mental health substance abuse: Mental health Atlas. WHO, Geneva.

[42] World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. (2013). Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. JAMA, 310, pp. 2191?2194.