Citation

Shoeb M, Weinstein H, Mollica R. Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry 2007; 53(5): 447-463.

Affiliation

University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, 94143, USA. marwa.shoeb@ucsf.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

18018666

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mental health assessments in post-conflict zones have relied heavily on Western psychiatric scales. Yet, a strict dependence on the paradigms of Western psychiatry risks inappropriately prioritizing syndromes, such as PTSD, which, however important, are eclipsed by local concerns. MATERIAL AND DISCUSSION: In Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest population of Iraqi refugees in the United States, 60 Iraqi refugee life stories were collected in order to adapt the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) to the Iraqi context. CONCLUSION: The methodology described proved to be a useful approach to developing a trauma measure that is culturally grounded in a multi-dimensional model of mental health.

Language: en