Book

Rx, spiritist as needed: a study of a Puerto Rican community mental health resource

Cornell University PressIthaca, N.yPublished In 1987 • Pages: [xxxii], [253]

By: Harwood, Alan.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Spiritism, a form of psychotherapeutic healing, is the focus of this study. Harwood gathered data on the etiological and nosological system underlying spiritism and he describes the types of problems brought to the spiritist healer or medium, treatment procedures, and various other information. Harwood hoped that this data would benefit Puerto Rican community leaders and advisors. After an introductory chapter describing the methods used in the study, the geographical area, and the sample, the author presents information on the ideology, social organization, and ritual procedures of spiritism. This is followed by a description of spiritist diagnosis and treatment. The author then discusses spiritist concepts and rituals in social interaction. The document concludes with an examination of '…possible relationships between therapists of the spiritist tradition and health facilities that serve a Puerto Rican clientele and the philosophical problems of the nature of healing' (p.5).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Personality disorders
Personality disorders
Acculturation and culture contact
Invalidism
Hospitals and clinics
Theory of disease
Sorcery
Magical and mental therapy
Shamans and psychotherapists
Medical care
Medical personnel
General character of religion
Magicians and diviners
Congregations
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Puerto Ricans (Mainland)
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2002
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1992
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1968-1970 [p. xx]
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1968-1970
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
New York, N.Y., United States
NotesAdditional notes
[by] Alan Harwood
Originally published: New York : Wiley, c1977
Includes index. Bibliography: p. 227-241
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
87047599
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Spiritual healing--New York (City)/Spiritualism--New York (City)/Puerto Ricans--New York (City)--Religious life and customs/Psychotherapy--New York