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Fulltext The effects of extra-somatic weapons on the evolution of human cooperation towards non-kin

Phillips T, Li J, Kendall G

PLoS One, 2014;9(5):e95742.
PMID: 24796325 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095742

Human cooperation and altruism towards non-kin is a major evolutionary puzzle, as is 'strong reciprocity' where no present or future rewards accrue to the co-operator/altruist. Here, we test the hypothesis that the development of extra-somatic weapons could have influenced the evolution of human cooperative behaviour, thus providing a new explanation for these two puzzles. Widespread weapons use could have made disputes within hominin groups far more lethal and also equalized power between individuals. In such a cultural niche non-cooperators might well have become involved in such lethal disputes at a higher frequency than cooperators, thereby increasing the relative fitness of genes associated with cooperative behaviour. We employ two versions of the evolutionary Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma (IPD) model--one where weapons use is simulated and one where it is not. We then measured the performance of 25 IPD strategies to evaluate the effects of weapons use on them. We found that cooperative strategies performed significantly better, and non-cooperative strategies significantly worse, under simulated weapons use. Importantly, the performance of an 'Always Cooperate' IPD strategy, equivalent to that of 'strong reciprocity', improved significantly more than that of all other cooperative strategies. We conclude that the development of extra-somatic weapons throws new light on the evolution of human altruistic and cooperative behaviour, and particularly 'strong reciprocity'. The notion that distinctively human altruism and cooperation could have been an adaptive trait in a past environment that is no longer evident in the modern world provides a novel addition to theory that seeks to account for this major evolutionary puzzle.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural*
Preserving quantifiable ethnographic records of disappearing human lifeways

Kraft TS, Venkataraman VV, Endicott KL, Endicott KM

Evol. Anthropol., 2020 May;29(3):117-124.
PMID: 32472595 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21835

The human evolutionary sciences place high value on quantitative data from traditional small-scale societies that are rapidly modernizing. These data often stem from the sustained ethnographic work of anthropologists who are today nearing the end of their careers. Yet many quantitative ethnographic data are preserved only in summary formats that do not reflect the rich and variable ethnographic reality often described in unpublished field notes, nor the deep knowledge of their collectors. In raw disaggregated formats, such data have tremendous scientific value when used in conjunction with modern statistical techniques and as part of comparative analyses. Through a personal example of longitudinal research with Batek hunter-gatherers that involved collaboration across generations of researchers, we argue that quantifiable ethnographic records, just like material artifacts, deserve high-priority preservation efforts. We discuss the benefits, challenges, and possible avenues forward for digitizing, preserving, and archiving ethnographic data before it is too late.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural/instrumentation; Anthropology, Cultural/standards*
Fulltext Advertising appeals and cultural values of video advertising in Thailand

Cheryl, Shee Yu Peh, Norazirah, Ayob

Trends in Undergraduate Research, 2020;3(1):1-8.
MyJurnal

In recent years, Thailand videos advertising is generally known as the leading producer of weep-worthy viral videos in the world. Reasons for Thailand advertisements to stand out from the rest is said to be because of its commonly used advertising appeals, and cultural values focused in majority of Thailand advertisements. This research aims to study advertising appeals and cultural values in Thailand video advertisements. Specifically, the research investigates the reflection of cultural value through advertising appeal through the executional framework in Thailand video advertisements. This exploratory research employs primarily the method of ethnography in order to understand how cultural values are reflected through the advertising appeals in video advertisements from Thailand. The result shows that the most commonly used advertising appeal are Family Appeal, followed by Health Appeal and Effective Appeal. In terms of cultural values, the result shows the Thailand’s advertisements are skewed slightly higher towards collectivism and femininity. Majority of the Thailand video advertisements are using executional framework of storytelling.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Fulltext A dental-anthropological study of health and illness behaviour among Orang Asli of the Semai Tribe: the perspective of traditional healers

Saub R, Jaafar N

Med J Malaysia, 2001 Dec;56(4):401-7.
PMID: 12014757

This observational study investigates and describes the oral health beliefs and illness behaviour in the Semai tribe of Orang Asli community. Data was obtained from a "Key informant interview" method i.e. the village Tok Halaq (Traditional healer). Information about common oral diseases and conditions were illustrated with enlarged pictures of dental caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer and cleft. The most common oral problem was toothache. This is treated by self-medication. However if the pain still persist, the Tok Halaq was consulted to start traditional methods. He will identify the cause. If "germs" were thought to be the cause, he will ask the person to see a doctor. Otherwise, he attempts traditional treatment. If the effort failed after a few days, the person will be advised to see a doctor. It appears that the Tok Halaq plays an influential role in prevention, promotion and the healing process in this community. Hence any effort to promote oral health and prevent oral disease must seek their cooperation. Their beliefs on causes of common oral diseases are described in the text.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural*
Roasting, smoking and dieting in response to birth: malay confinement in cross-cultural perspective

Manderson L

Soc Sci Med B, 1981 Oct;15(4):509-20.
PMID: 7323860 DOI: 10.1016/0160-7987(81)90025-9
Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural*
Fulltext Sustainable development goals, universal health coverage and equity in health systems: the Orang Asli commons approach

Wong YS, Allotey P, Reidpath DD

Glob Health Epidemiol Genom, 2016;1:e12.
PMID: 29868204 DOI: 10.1017/gheg.2016.8

Universal health coverage is a key health target in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that has the means to link equitable social and economic development. As a concept firmly based on equity, it is widely accepted at international and national levels as important for populations to attain 'health for all' especially for marginalised groups. However, implementing universal coverage has been fraught with challenges and the increasing privatisation of health care provision adds to the challenge because it is being implemented in a health system that rests on a property regime that promotes inequality. This paper asks the question, 'What does an equitable health system look like?' rather than the usual 'How do you make the existing health system more equitable?' Using an ethnographic approach, the authors explored via interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation a health system that uses the commons approach such as which exists with indigenous peoples and found features that helped make the system intrinsically equitable. Based on these features, the paper proposes an alternative basis to organise universal health coverage that will better ensure equity in health systems and ultimately contribute to meeting the SDGs.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Cross-cultural perspectives on birth practices

Laderman C

Birth, 1988 Jun;15(2):86-7.
PMID: 3390277
Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Experiences of people living with disorders of sex development and sex reassignment: Meta-ethnography of qualitative studies

Sani AM, Soh KL, Ismail IA, Arshad MM, Mungadi IA, Yau SL, et al.

J Adv Nurs, 2019 Feb;75(2):277-290.
PMID: 30132959 DOI: 10.1111/jan.13833

AIM: The aim of this study was to synthesize the experiences of people with disorders of sex development.
BACKGROUND: The quality of life of people with disorders of sex development depends largely on the availability of good psychosocial and psychosexual management. There is a lack of qualitative systematic reviews of the literature on the experiences of people with disorders of sex development.
DESIGN: The seven steps of qualitative meta-ethnography were employed in this review.
DATA SOURCES: The following electronic databases were systematically searched until January 2017: Science Direct, Scopus, Sage online, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Medline, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar. Search terms for this review were "disorders of sex development," "intersex," "ambiguous genitalia," "experiences," "qualitative study," and "method".
REVIEW METHOD: A 13-item scale was applied to evaluate the quality of the selected studies and synthesized using the principles of meta-ethnography.
FINDINGS: Twelve studies met the eligibility criteria. Six major themes described the experiences of people with disorders of sex development. These included a range of physical, psychological, social, and sexual experiences which affect their quality of life. Different coping strategies were employed by individuals who live with the lifelong condition.
CONCLUSION: Disorders of sex development affect the quality of life of people living with these disorders. Nurses are tasked with providing holistic care for people with disorders of sex development in order to improve their quality of lives. As such, there is a need to explore the experiences of nurses in the management of disorders of sex development.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural*
The role of the behavioural sciences in medicine: anthropology and medicine

Swift MG

Med J Aust, 1969 Jul 05;2(1):35-8.
PMID: 5799010
Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural*
The ambiguity of symbols in the structure of healing

Laderman C

Soc Sci Med, 1987;24(4):293-301.
PMID: 2436303 DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(87)90148-1

In his article, 'The Effectiveness of Symbols,' Lévi-Strauss contends that the details of a Cuna birth incantation evoke specific physiological responses from parturient women, aiding them through difficult labors. His argument, which analyzes the incantation as a text divorced from its social setting, has drawn criticism from students of Cuna society on a number of substantive points, primarily centering around the difficulties that the special linguistic form of ritual language would present to a non-adept. If the patient lacks a thorough comprehension of the mythic details, how can the incantation change her physiological processes? In an attempt to evaluate the effect of myth upon a woman in labor, this article calls upon Cuna and Malay ethnographic data, and presents a Malay birth incantation as interpreted by the ritual practitioner who recited it. Following a discussion of the non-semantic aspects of the incantation and the extent to which the patient shares the interpretation of the healer in both the Malay and Cuna societies, recent biomedical studies are cited in support of hypotheses concerning the physiological and biochemical effects of myth in the management of childbirth.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Anatomy of wooden core of ottoman composite archery bows

Gokhan Gunduz, Barbaros Yaman, Seray Ozden, Suleyman Donmez

Sains Malaysiana, 2013;42:547-552.

Composite archery bows have been well known and used by Asiatic societies for thousands of years. The Turkish composite bow, made of wood, horn, sinew and glue is one of the most famous and powerful bows in the world. Because of its high draw weight and mechanical efficiency, the Turkish composite bow became a powerful weapon in the Seljuk and the Ottoman empire. In addition to being a powerful weapon of war, at the same time the bow and arrow (archery) continued
to be a sport of Ottoman (sultans, state officials, janissaries) until the late Ottoman period. In this study of the Ottoman composite archery bows in the collections of Izmir Ethnography Museum, a small wood sample was investigated on the basis of its wood anatomy. The results showed that it was made of maple wood (Acer sp.) and some of its qualitative and quantitative anatomical properties are presented here. One of the key properties for the identification of maple wood is
the helical thickening throughout the body of the vessel element. Helical thickenings in vessel elements in cutting surfaces of maple-wooden core increase the bonding surface between the wood and sinew-horn. In most of the woods preferred traditionally for bow-making, helical thickenings in tracheids, vessel elements or ground tissue fibres should be taken into account at a hierarchy of cellular structures for elucidating the efficiency of Ottoman composite-wooden bow.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Fulltext Stroke survivors' and informal caregivers' experiences of primary care and community healthcare services - A systematic review and meta-ethnography

Pindus DM, Mullis R, Lim L, Wellwood I, Rundell AV, Abd Aziz NA, et al.

PLoS One, 2018;13(2):e0192533.
PMID: 29466383 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192533

OBJECTIVE: To describe and explain stroke survivors and informal caregivers' experiences of primary care and community healthcare services. To offer potential solutions for how negative experiences could be addressed by healthcare services.
DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-ethnography.
DATA SOURCES: Medline, CINAHL, Embase and PsycINFO databases (literature searched until May 2015, published studies ranged from 1996 to 2015).
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Primary qualitative studies focused on adult community-dwelling stroke survivors' and/or informal caregivers' experiences of primary care and/or community healthcare services.
DATA SYNTHESIS: A set of common second order constructs (original authors' interpretations of participants' experiences) were identified across the studies and used to develop a novel integrative account of the data (third order constructs). Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. Relevance was assessed using Dixon-Woods' criteria.
RESULTS: 51 studies (including 168 stroke survivors and 328 caregivers) were synthesised. We developed three inter-dependent third order constructs: (1) marginalisation of stroke survivors and caregivers by healthcare services, (2) passivity versus proactivity in the relationship between health services and the patient/caregiver dyad, and (3) fluidity of stroke related needs for both patient and caregiver. Issues of continuity of care, limitations in access to services and inadequate information provision drove perceptions of marginalisation and passivity of services for both patients and caregivers. Fluidity was apparent through changing information needs and psychological adaptation to living with long-term consequences of stroke.
LIMITATIONS: Potential limitations of qualitative research such as limited generalisability and inability to provide firm answers are offset by the consistency of the findings across a range of countries and healthcare systems.
CONCLUSIONS: Stroke survivors and caregivers feel abandoned because they have become marginalised by services and they do not have the knowledge or skills to re-engage. This can be addressed by: (1) increasing stroke specific health literacy by targeted and timely information provision, and (2) improving continuity of care between specialist and generalist services.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO 2015:CRD42015026602.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Multivariate statistical analysis on the physical interrelationship of native tribes in Sarawak, Malaysia

Kurisu K

Am J Phys Anthropol, 1970 Sep;33(2):229-34.
PMID: 5473088
Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Tarantism, dancing mania and demonopathy: the anthro-political aspects of 'mass psychogenic illness'

Bartholomew RE

Psychol Med, 1994 May;24(2):281-306.
PMID: 8084927

This study questions the widely held assumption that the phenomenon known as mass psychogenic illness (MPI) exists per se in nature as a psychiatric disorder. Most MPI studies are problematical, being descriptive, retrospective investigations of specific incidents which conform to a set of pre-existing symptom criteria that are used to determine the presence of collective psychosomatic illness. Diagnoses are based upon subjective, ambiguous categories that reflect stereotypes of female normality which assume the presence of a transcultural disease or disorder entity, underemphasizing or ignoring the significance of episodes as culturally conditioned roles of social action. Examples of this bias include the mislabelling of dancing manias, tarantism and demonopathy in Europe since the Middle Ages as culture-specific variants of MPI. While 'victims' are typified as mentally disturbed females possessing abnormal personality characteristics who are exhibiting cathartic reactions to stress, it is argued that episodes may involve normal, rational people who possess unfamiliar conduct codes, world-views and political agendas that differ significantly from those of Western-trained investigators who often judge these illness behaviours independent of their local context and meanings.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural*
Rites of consent: negotiating research participation in diverse cultures

Barrett RJ, Parker DB

Monash Bioeth Rev, 2003 Apr;22(2):9-26.
PMID: 15069953

The significance of informed consent in research involving humans has been a topic of active debate in the last decade. Much of this debate, we submit, is predicated on an ideology of individualism. We draw on our experiences as anthropologists working in Western and non Western (Iban) health care settings to present ethnographic data derived from diverse scenes in which consent is gained. Employing classical anthropological ritual theory, we subject these observational data to comparative analysis. Our article argues that the individualist assumptions underlying current bioethics guidelines do not have universal applicability, even in Western research settings. This is based on the recognition that the social world is constitutive of personhood in diverse forms, just one of which is individualistic. We submit that greater attention must be paid to the social relations the researcher inevitably engages in when conducting research involving other people, be this in the context of conventional medical research or anthropological field work. We propose, firstly, that the consenting process continues throughout the life of any research project, long after the signature has been secured, and secondly, that both group and individual dimensions of consent, and the sequence in which these dimensions are addressed, should be carefully considered in all cases where consent is sought.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural*
Asylum blues: staff attitudes towards psychiatric nursing in Sarawak, East Malaysia

Ashencaen Crabtree S

J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs, 2003 Dec;10(6):713-21.
PMID: 15005485 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2850.2003.00665.x

This paper draws upon findings from an ethnographic study of psychiatric service users in a psychiatric institution in Sarawak, East Malaysia. Findings focus primarily on the accounts of nursing staff in relation to attitudes towards psychiatric work and patients. These indicate that despite a rhetoric of decentralized services, a custodial 'asylum' model continues to influence the care of patients at many levels. Negative professional attitudes towards patients lead to issues of both moral and physical containment. However, an associated attitude of stigma and prejudice towards mental illness impacts upon how attractive a career in psychiatric nursing is perceived to be by respondents, subject to gender differentials.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Space, repetition and collective interlocution: Psychiatric interviews in a Borneo longhouse

Barrett RJ

Commun Med, 2004;1(1):25-34.
PMID: 16808686

An analysis is presented of psychiatric research interviews conducted among the Iban, a longhouse dwelling people of Sarawak, Malaysia. It draws on transcripts of interviews recorded in the course of carrying out research into schizophrenia in this group. The article examines three different interview spaces within the longhouse--public, family, and private--in order to explore the interplay between ethnographic context and interview conversation. The public setting is notable for the number of relatives who join in and transform the communication from dyadic to collective interlocution; the role of repetition in recruiting them into the conversation is explored. Indirect contrast is the private space, which allows for a level of confidentiality commensurate with Western psychiatric research practice. Intermediate between the two is the family space. The communicative forms that correspond to these settings influence the way symptoms of schizophrenia are experienced and expressed in the Iban. Implications for the practice of psychiatry cross-culturally are examined.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Investigating Malaysian Nurses' perspectives of intercultural teaching in transnational higher education learning environments

Arunasalam ND, Burton R

Nurse Educ Today, 2018 Oct;69:165-171.
PMID: 30092544 DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2018.07.011

BACKGROUND: In recent years, many ASEAN countries, including Malaysia have embraced Transnational Higher Education (TNHE) post-registration top-up nursing degree programmes. These are bridging programmes that allow registered nurses to upgrade their diploma qualifications to a degree level.
PURPOSE: To investigate the teaching and learning experiences of Malaysian nurses on Transnational Higher Education post-registration top-up degree programmes in Malaysia.
DESIGN: Hermeneutic phenomenology and the ethnographic principle of cultural interpretation were used to explore the views of eighteen Malaysian nurses from two UK and one Australian TNHE universities (determined by convenience and snowball sampling methods) to ensure data saturation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in English and Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian language) to enable nurses' voices to define, describe and evaluate their TNHE classroom experiences.
DATA ANALYSIS: Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
FINDINGS: The nurses' experiences within the short one or 2 weeks TNHE intercultural teaching and learning environment identified four categories: language and teaching and learning issues; TNHE degree requirements, guidance and support; shock and coping strategies and acclimatisation. They suggest there was a conflict between the assumptions and expectations of the TNHE 'flying faculty' and nurses' about the programme of study. There were also mismatches between Western and Malaysian pedagogical preferences, guidance and support, and professional values.
IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION/PRACTICE: There is a need for TNHE 'flying faculty' to internationalise the theoretical knowledge to reduce cultural incongruities and dissimilarities. Cultural immersion will stimulate intercultural views and knowledge to equip nurses for promotional and/or global opportunities whilst enabling the 'flying faculty' to create new learning environments. The research provides insights to inform TNHE provider institutions to improve teaching and learning to enable nurses to make the theory-practice connection.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
One world is not enough: the structured phenomenology of lifestyle migrants in East Asia

Stones R, Botterill K, Lee M, O'Reilly K

Br J Sociol, 2019 Jan;70(1):44-69.
PMID: 29479667 DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.12357

The paper is based on original empirical research into the lifestyle migration of European migrants, primarily British, to Thailand and Malaysia, and of Hong Kong Chinese migrants to Mainland China. We combine strong structuration theory (SST) with Heideggerian phenomenology to develop a distinctive approach to the interplay between social structures and the lived experience of migrants. The approach enables a rich engagement with the subjectivities of migrants, an engagement that is powerfully enhanced by close attention to how these inner lives are deeply interwoven with relevant structural contexts. The approach is presented as one that could be fruitfully adopted to explore parallel issues within all types of migration. As is intrinsic to lifestyle migration, commitment to a better quality of life is central to the East Asian migrants, but they seek an uncomplicated, physically enhanced texture of life, framed more by a phenomenology of prosaic well-being than of self-realization or transcendence. In spite of possessing economic and status privileges due to their relatively elite position within global structures the reality for a good number of the lifestyle migrants falls short of their prior expectations. They are subject to particular kinds of socio-structural marginaliszation as a consequence of the character of their migration, and they find themselves relatively isolated and facing a distinct range of challenges. A comparison with research into various groups of migrants to the USA brings into relief the specificities of the socio-structural positioning of the lifestyle migrants of the study. Those East Asian migrants who express the greatest sense of ease and contentment seem to be those who have responded creatively to the specific challenges of their socio-structural situation. Often, this appears to have been achieved through understated but active involvements with their new settings and through sustaining focused transnational connections and relationships.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural
Hazarding health: experiences of body, work, and risk among factory women in Malaysia

Root R

Health Care Women Int, 2009 Oct;30(10):903-18.
PMID: 19742364 DOI: 10.1080/07399330903042807

In the 1970s, Malaysia launched an export-oriented development strategy as a means of financing the nation's modernization. The success of the strategy hinged significantly on intensive recruitment of women for factory employment. I draw on descriptive qualitative research, including interviews (51), surveys (106), and ethnography in Malaysia to investigate factory women's experiences of work and work-related health risks. Discourse analysis surfaced a latent consciousness of bodily changes in relation to work. A grounded theory analysis showed a compromised access to occupational risk knowledge that may bear negatively on women's well-being and the role women's new labor identities played in mediating the meanings of work and risks. Given the predominance of women workers in low-end manufacturing globally, I aimed to contribute to theoretical and applied understandings of gender, globalization, and health.

Matched MeSH terms: Anthropology, Cultural

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