Emerging Issues in Transcultural Psychiatry

The Paper examines selected aspects of transcultural psychiatry with a view to demonstrating the changes in theorizing that have taken place. It denotes a shift from conventional psychiatric theorizing based on epidemiological studies to a ‘new transcultural psychiatry’ which provided a broader framework for understanding mental illness. The paper draws attention to the characterisation of the nature of mental illness as a psychiatric disorder; and the problematic nature of the culture. The limitations and pitfalls inherent in the ‘new transcultural psychiatry’ theorising and a corrective, a socio-cultural model for transcultural psychiatry are discussed. © 1993 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.