Medical
Anthropology
Nur Azid Mahardinata
Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities,
Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada
Learning Objectives
At the end of this lecture, students should:
Gained an insight into the main concept of
cultural anthropology
Understand the general objectives and
approaches of medical anthropology
Be able to explain the differences of
anthropological approach and natural science
approach
Discuss the implementation of medical
anthropology in health research
Perkembangan Ilmu
Antropologi
Fase I (<1800an)
Ethnography (deskripsi bangsa-bangsa) nonEropa
Munculnya gagasan-gagasan mengenai
bangsa-bangsa non-Eropa (Afrika, Asia,
Oceania, dan Indian):
Bangsa lain adalah manusia liar keturunan iblis (savage,
primitif)
Bangsa lain adalah bangsa yang murni atau contoh
masyarakat yang belum mengenal kejahatan
Keanehan bangsa-bangsa lain tersebut adalah sebagai
objek museum
Perkembangan Ilmu
Antropologi
Fase II (Medio abad 19)
Penggolongan bangsa-bangsa di dunia dari
masyarakat dan budaya yang paling tinggi
(eropa barat) hingga yang paling rendah
Muncul karangan-2 atau tulisan ilmiah yang
mengklasifikasikan bahan-bahan mengenai
berbagai kebudayaan di dunia dalam berbagai
tingkat evolusi (lahirlah istilah antropologi)
Lebih bersifat akademis
Mempelajari masyarakat dan kebudayaan
primitif dengan maksud mendapatkan
pengertian mengenai tingkatan-tingkatan
Perkembangan Ilmu
Antropologi
Fase III (awal abad 20)
Berkembang sebagai ilmu praktis, untuk
mempelajari masyarakat dan
kebudayaan suku-suku bangsa di luar Eropa
guna kepentingan pemerintah kolonial dan
guna mendapat pengertian tentang
masyarakat modern yang bersifat kompleks
Fase IV (>1930an)
Antropologi gaya baru, dengan 2 tujuan:
Akademis: mencapai pengertian makhluk manusia
pada umumnya dengan mempelajari berbagai
bentuk fisiknya, masyarakatnya, maupun
kebudayaannya
Masalah-masalah Penelitian
dalam Antropologi
1. Masalah sejarah asal dan perkembangan manusia
(atau evolusinya) dipandang dari segi biologi
2. Masalah sejarah terjadinya berbagai ragam manusia,
dipandang dari ciri-ciri tubuhnya
3. Masalah sejarah asal, perkembangan, serta
penyebaran berbagai macam bahasa diseluruh dunia
4. Masalah perkembangan, penyebaran, dan terjadinya
beragam kebudayaan di dunia
5. Masalah mengenai asas-asas kebudayaan manusia
dalam kehidupan masyarakat-2 suku bangsa di dunia
Ilmu-ilmu Bagian
Antropologi
Antropologi biologi/fisik
Paleoantropologi
Antropologi fisik
Antropologi budaya/sosial
Prehistorik
Etnolinguistik
Etnologi
Etnopsikologi
Antropologi spesialisasi (ekonomi, politik, kesehatan,
kependudukan, pendidikan, perkotaan, hukum, dll)
Antropologi terapan
What is culture?
Known definitions of culture:
System of meaning belief, knowledge
and action by which people organize
their lives
That complex whole; which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
custom, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of
society
The man-made of the environment
Medical
Anthropolog
y
By Deffinition:
The study of medical phenomena as culture (Hardon,
1995)
Medical systems emerge from human attempts to
Types of medical
anthropology
Anthropology in medicine the work of anthropologists
carried out in close collaboration with medical
professionals, making their data available to doctors in
order to improve the quality of medical services
Explaining the ideas of illness of patients to doctors
contribute to better communication between doctors
and patients
Anthropology of medicine take a distance from
medical practice and study it as a social and cultural
phenomena
Criticism of the term compliance for being doctor
centered
Approaches
in Medical
Anthropolog
y
Contextualization
Study subjects within context object of
research is broadened by the inclusion of
its relevant context to understand the
meaning of people ideas and practices
This is different with other sciences (i.e.
natural science) that explain their
object by reducing it to some basic
principles
Biology study the quality of water by taking
one drop and placing it under microscope,
looking for microbes
Anthropology studies how people use water
in everyday life, who collects and uses it, for
Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism: cultures -- and so of ideas and
practices, are diverse and unique, they can only
be understood in terms of their own standards
and values
It is clear that one cannot speak in universal
terms, or using his/her own cultural background
to view other people and ways of life
(ethnocentrism)
A trained doctor may think that consult an
oracle to find out who caused a disease is
useless and senseless, while his patient may
be puzzled why the doctor is not paying
attention to the deeper and underlying causes
of the disease
Theoretical
Perspectives
Structural Functionalism
Social and cultural phenomena are seen as
functionally interconnected and basic to the
structural maintenance of society
The task of anthropologist is to show how the
different elements interact to make society into
what it is (its structural maintenance, harmony,
equilibrium)
Illness is a dysfunction of the body and health
care is contribute to the maintenance of society
as a whole by repairing the sick individual
Ecological perspectives
Culture is human adaptation to
environment because cultural phenomena
are seen as human solutions to problems
posed by the natural environment
Health is regarded as the result of
successful adaptations to
environmental challenge and disease
is the outcome of the failure to adapt
The spread of malaria clearing the forest
and agricultural way of life
Related Concept
and research
Method in medical
anthropology
Research Methods in
Anthropology
Qualitative approach in nature
Suggested Readings
Available at Center for Bioethics
Edel and Edel, 2000. Anthropology and
Ethics: the Quest for Moral
Understanding. New Jersey: Transaction
Publishers.
Johnson and Sargent, 1990. Medical
Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and
Method.
Gingrich and Fox, 2002. Anthropology, By
Comparison. London: Routledge