Review of The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures
Author(s):
Nelson, Nicole; Nelson, Geoffrey
Format:
Book review
Citation:
Journal Of Health Psychology, Volume 13, Issue 6 (2008-09). pp. 839-840.
Language:
English
Abstract:
Reviews the book, The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures by Anne Fadiman (1998). The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. The book is based on hundreds of hours of interviews that Fadiman conducted with Lia's doctors, her parents, and members of the Hmong community, as well as participant observation in the Lee household. This book raises the question of what role health psychologists can and should play in health interventions. Mainstream health psychologists who do not challenge assumptions and power run the risk of supporting the status quo of the state and its institutions and agents (e.g., hospitals, clinics, doctors, child protection workers) and promoting the sorts of problems described in the book. Using individuallybased, cognitive-behavioural intervention strategies to promote the compliance of the Lees with the medically prescribed treatment regimens would likely be met with stiff resistance, and would further de-power the family and the Hmong community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)