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. |