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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Traditional concepts of mental health in Sierra Leone
Author:Dawson, J.L.M.
Year:1966
Periodical:Sierra Leone Studies
Issue:18
Pages:18-28
Language:English
Geographic term:Sierra Leone
Subject:ethnopsychiatry
Abstract:The purpose of this paper is to outline briefly certain aspects of the dynamics and traditional concepts regarding cause and effect in the aetiology of mental illness. Traditional medicine in Sierra Leone has apparently a dichotomous role designed to maintain the continuity of society as a functioning whole. Deviant behaviour is destroyed by the action of such social sanctions as 'swears' but at the same time this very act of destruction is part of the cycle which ensures the re-integration of the individual into society by a process of confession and treatment. Bibliography.
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