Below is a list of books suggested in an SPA listserv discussion in response to a query about books for teaching psychological anthropology. While this list is by no means exhaustive, it nonetheless offers an invaluable resource and perspective into the diverse arenas covered by psychological anthropology. Individuals interested in course syllabi for psychological anthropology can also have a look at our collection.
Additions to the list can be sent to: Kathy Trang (ktrang@emory.edu)
| Author | Book Title | AAA Citation | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth, K. | Objects of Time: How Things Shape Temporality | Birth, K. 2012. Objects of Time: How Things Shape Temporality. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137017871 |
| Bock, Philip K. (Editor) | Handbook of Psychological Anthropology | Bock, Philip K., ed. 1994. Psychological Anthropology. Westport: Greenwood. | https://www.amazon.com/Psychological-Anthropology-Philip-K-Bock/dp/0313284334/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me= |
| Braun, Jerome | Democratic Culture and Moral Character: A Study in Culture and Personality | Braun, Jerome. 2013. Democratic Culture and Moral Character: A Study in Culture and Personality. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. | http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789400767539 |
| Brison, K. | Children, Social Class, and Education: Shifting Identities in Fiji | Brison, K. 2014. Children, Social Class, and Education: Shifting Identities in Fiji. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137472267 |
| Broch-Due, Vigdis | Violent Reverberations: Global Modalities of Trauma | Broch-Due, Vigdis. 2016. Violent Reverberations: Global Modalities of Trauma. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319390482 |
| Brodwin, Paul | Everyday Ethics: Voices from the Front Line of Community Psychiatry | Brodwin, Paul. 2013. Everyday Ethics: Voices from the Front Line of Community Psychiatry. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520274792 |
| Burbank, V. | An Ethnography of Stress: The Social Determinants of Health in Aboriginal Australia | Burbank, V. 2011. An Ethnography of Stress: The Social Determinants of Health in Aboriginal Australia. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230110229 |
| Cassaniti, Julia | Living Buddhism: Mind, Self, and Emotion in a Thai Community | Cassaniti, Julia. 2015. Living Buddhism: Mind, Self, and Emotion in a Thai Community. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. | http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100943380 |
| Chapin, Bambi L. | Childhood in Sri Lanka: Shaping Hierarchy and Desire | Chapin, Bambi L. 2014. Childhood in a Sri Lankan Village: Shaping Hierarchy and Desire. Edition Unstated edition. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. | https://www.amazon.com/Childhood-Sri-Lankan-Village-Hierarchy/dp/0813561655 |
| DÕAndrade, R. | A Study of Personal and Cultural Values: American, Japanese, and Vietnamese | DÕAndrade, R. 2008. A Study of Personal and Cultural Values: American, Japanese, and Vietnamese. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230602991 |
| Davies, James | The Making of Psychotherapists: An Anthropological Analysis | Davies, James. 2009. The Making of Psychotherapists: An Anthropological Analysis. London: Routledge. | https://www.amazon.com/Making-Psychotherapists-Anthropological-Analysis/dp/1855756560 |
| Davies, James and Spencer, Dimitrina (Eds.) | Emotions in the Field: The Psychology and Anthropology of Fieldwork Experience | Davies, James, and Dimitrina Spencer, eds. 2010. Emotions in the Field: The Psychology and Anthropology of Fieldwork Experience. Stanford: Stanford University Press. | https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=17404 |
| Davis, Elizabeth A. | Bad Souls: Madness and Responsibility in Modern Greece | Davis, Elizabeth A. 2012. Bad Souls: Madness and Responsiblity in Modern Greece. Durham: Duke University Press. | https://www.dukeupress.edu/bad-souls |
| Estroff, Sue E. | Making it Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community | Estroff, Sue E. 1985. Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520054516 |
| Fong, Vanessa L. | Only Hope: Coming of Age Under ChinaÕs One-Child Policy | Fong, Vanessa L. 2002. Only Hope: Coming of Age Under ChinaÕs One-Child Policy. Stanford: Stanford University Press. | https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=5009 |
| Fong, Vanessa L. | Paradise Redefined: Transnational Chinese Students and the Quest for Flexible Citizenship in the Developed World | Fong, Vanessa L. 2011. Paradise Redefined: Transnational Chinese Students and the Quest for Flexible Citizenship in the Developed World. Stanford: Stanford University Press. | https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=20258 |
| Frank, Gelya | Venus on Wheels: Two Decades of Dialogue on Disability, Biography, and Being Female in America | Frank, Gelya. 2000. Venus on Wheels: Two Decades of Dialogue on Disability, Biography, and Being Female in America. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520217164 |
| Fuentes, Agustn | Evolution of Human Behavior | Fuentes, Agustn. 2008. Evolution of Human Behavior. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. | https://global.oup.com/academic/product/evolution-of-human-behavior-9780195333589?cc=us&lang=en& |
| Garcia, Angela | The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession along the Rio Grande | Garcia, Angela. 2010. The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession along the Rio Grande. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520262089 |
| Glaskin, K. and Chenhall, R. (Eds.) | Sleep Around the World: Anthropological Perspectives | Glaskin, K., and R. Chenhall, eds. 2013. Sleep Around the World: Anthropological Perspectives. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137320933 |
| Heider, K. | The Cultural Context of Emotion: Folk Psychology in West Sumatra | Heider, K. 2011. The Cultural Context of Emotion: Folk Psychology in West Sumatra. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230115248 |
| Heine, Steven J. | Cultural Psychology | Heine, Steven J. 2015. Cultural Psychology. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. | http://books.wwnorton.com/books/webad.aspx?id=4294990296 |
| Hejtmanek, Katie Rose | Friendship, Love, and Hip Hop: An Ethnography of African American Men in Psychiatric Custody | Hejtmanek, Katie Rose. 2015. Friendship, Love, and Hip Hop: An Ethnography of African American Men in Psychiatric Custody. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137544728 |
| High, C., Kelly, A., and Mair, J. (Eds.) | An Anthropology of Ignorance: An Ethnographic Approach | High, C., A. Kelly, and J. Mair, eds. 2012. The Anthropology of Ignorance: An Ethnographic Approach. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230340824 |
| James, Erica | Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention in Haiti | James, Erica. 2010. Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention in Haiti. California Series in Public Anthropology. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520260542 |
| Jenkins, Janis H. | Extraordinary Conditions: Culture and Experiences in Mental Illness | Jenkins, Janis H. 2015. Extraordinary Conditions: Culture and Experience in Mental Illness. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520287112 |
| Kipnis, A. (Editor) | Chinese Modernity and the Individual Psyche | Kipnis, A., ed. 2012. Chinese Modernity and the Individual Psyche. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137268952 |
| Kitanaka, Junko | Depression in Japan: Psychiatric Cures for a Society in Distress | Kitanaka, Junko. 2011. Depression in Japan: Psychiatric Cures for a Society in Distress. Princeton: Princeton University Press. | https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9610.html |
| Kondo, Dorinne K. | Crafting Selves: Power, Gender, and Discourses of Identity in a Japanese Workplace | Kondo, Dorinne K. 1990. Crafting Selves: Power, Gender, and Discourses of Identity in a Japanese Workplace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. | http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo3774610.html |
| Kusserow, Adrie | American Individualisms: Child Rearing and Social Class in Three Neighborhoods | Kusserow, A. 2004. American Individualisms: Child Rearing and Social Class in Three Neighborhoods. 2004 edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.amazon.com/American-Individualisms-Rearing-Neighborhoods-Culture/dp/1403964807 |
| Leite, Naomi | Unorthodox Kin: Portuguese Marranos and the Global Search for Belonging | Leite, Naomi. 2017. Unorthodox Kin: Portuguese Marranos and the Global Search for Belonging. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520285057/unorthodox-kin |
| Lemelson, R and Tucker, A. | Afflictions: Steps Towards a Visual Psychological Anthropology | Lemelson, Robert, and Annie Tucker. 2017. Afflictions: Steps Toward a Visual Psychological Anthropology. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319599830 |
| Levine, Robert A.(Editor) | Psychological Anthropology: A Reader on Self in Culture | Levine, Robert A., ed. 2010. Psychological Anthropology: A Reader on Self in Culture. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. | https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Psychological+Anthropology%3A+A+Reader+on+Self+in+Culture-p-9781405105750 |
| Lindholm, Charles | Culture and Identity: The History, Theory, and Practice of Psychological Anthropology | Lindholm, Charles. 2007. Culture and Identity: The History, Theory, and Practice of Psychological Anthropology. Revised edition. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. | https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Identity-Practice-Psychological-Anthropology/dp/1851685286 |
| Lipset, David | Yabar: The Alienations of Murik Men in a Papua New Guinea Modernity | Lipset, David. 2017. Yabar: The Alienations of Murik Men in a Papua New Guinea Modernity. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319510750 |
| Luhrmann, Tanya | When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God | Luhrmann, T. M. 2012. When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. Reprint edition. New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books. | https://www.amazon.com/When-God-Talks-Back-Understanding/dp/0307277275 |
| Luhrmann, T. and Marrow, J. (Eds.) | Our Most Troubling Madness: Case Studies in Schizophrenia across Cultures | Luhrmann, T.M., and J. Marrow, eds. 2016. Our Most Troubling Madness: Case Studies in Schizophrenia across Cultures. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520291096 |
| Mageo, Jeanette | Dreaming Culture: Meanings, Models, and Power in U.S. American Dreams | Mageo, Jeanette. 2011. Dreaming Culture: Meanings, Models, and Power in U.S. American Dreams. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230337350 |
| McGinty, A. Mansson | Becoming Muslim: Western WomenÕs Conversions to Islam | McGinty, A. Mansson. 2006. Becoming Muslim: Western WomenÕs Conversions to Islam. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781403976116 |
| McIntosh, Janet | Unsettled: Denial and Belonging Among White Kenyans | McIntosh, Janet. 2016. Unsettled: Denial and Belonging Among White Kenyans. Ethnographic Studies in Subjectivity. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520290518 |
| Metzl, Jonathan | The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease | Metzl, Jonathan. 2011. The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease. 50486th edition. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. | https://www.amazon.com/Protest-Psychosis-Schizophrenia-Became-Disease/dp/0807001279 |
| Miller, Peggy J. and Cho, Grace E. | Self-Esteem in Time and Place: How American Families Interact, Enact, and Personalize a Cultural Ideal | Miller, Peggy J., and Grace E. Cho. 2017. Self-Esteem in Time and Place: How American Families Imagine, Enact, and Personalize a Cultural Ideal. Child Development in Cultural Context. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. | https://global.oup.com/academic/product/self-esteem--in-time-and-place-9780199959723?cc=us&lang=en&# |
| Myers, Neely Laurenzo | RecoveryÕs Edge: An Ethnography of Mental Health Care and Moral Agency | Myers, Neely, L. 2015. RecoveryÕs Edge: An Ethnography of Mental Health Care and Moral Agency. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. | https://www.vanderbilt.edu/university-press/book/9780826520807 |
| Nakamura, Karen | A Disability of the Soul: An Ethnography of Schizophrenia and Mental Illness in Contemporary Japan | Nakamura, Karen. 2013. A Disability of the Soul: An Ethnography of Schizophrenia and Mental Illness in Contemporary Japan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. | http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100535870 |
| OÕNell, Theresa DeLeane | Disciplined Hearts: History Identity, and Depression in an American Indian Community | OÕNell, Theresa, D. 1998. Disciplined Hearts: History, Identity, and Depression in an American Indian Community. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520214460 |
| Parish, S. | Subjectivity and Suffering in American Culture: Possible Selves | Parish, S. 2008. Subjectivity and Suffering in American Culture: Possible Selves. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230605381 |
| Quinn, N. (Editor) | Finding Culture in Talk: A Collection of Methods | Quinn, N., ed. 2005. Finding Culture in Talk: A Collection of Methods. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781403969149 |
| Quinn, N. and Mageo, J. (Eds.) | Attachment Reconsidered: Cultural Perspectives on a Western Theory | Quinn, N., and J. Mageo, eds. 2013. Attachment Reconsidered: Cultural Perspectives on a Western Theory. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137386717 |
| Rhodes, Lorna A. | Total Confinement: Madness and Reason in the Maximum Security Prison | Rhodes, Lorna A. 2004. Total Confinement: Madness and Reason in the Maximum Security Prison. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520240766 |
| Rich, G., Gielen, U.P., Takooshian, H. (Eds.) | Internationalizing the Teaching of Psychology | Rich, Grant J., Uwe P. Gielen, and Harold Takooshian, eds. 2017. Internationalizing the Teaching of Psychology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. | https://www.amazon.com/Internationalizing-Teaching-Psychology-Advances-Cultural/dp/1641130059 |
| Rogoff, Barbara | Developing Destinies: A Mayan Midwife and Town | Rogoff, Barbara. 2011. Developing Destinies: A Mayan Midwife and Town. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. | https://global.oup.com/academic/product/developing-destinies-9780195319903?cc=us&lang=en& |
| Sangren, P. Steven | Filial Obsessions: Chinese Patriliny and Its Discontents | Sangren, P. Steven. 2017. Filial Obsessions: Chinese Patriliny and Its Discontents. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319504926 |
| Seeley, Karen M. | Cultural Psychotherapy: Working with Culture in the Clinical Encounter | Seeley, Karen M. 1999. Cultural Psychotherapy: Working with Culture in the Clinical Encounter. Y First printing edition. Northvale, N.J: Jason Aronson, Inc. | https://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Psychotherapy-Working-Clinical-Encounter/dp/076570224X |
| Seligman, R. | Possessing Spirits and Healing Selves: Embodiment and Transformation in an Afro-Brazilian Religion | Seligman, R. 2014. Possessing Spirits and Healing Selves: Embodiment and Transformation in an Afro-Brazilian Religion. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137409591 |
| Seymour, Susan C. | Cora Du Bois: Anthropologist, Diplomat, Agent | Seymour, Susan C. 2015. Cora Du Bois: Anthropologist, Diplomat, Agent. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. | http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9780803262959/ |
| Sirisena, Mihirini | The Making and Meaning of Relationships in Sri Lanka: An Ethnography on University Students in Colombo | Sirisena, Mihirini. 2018. The Making and Meaning of Relationships in Sri Lanka: An Ethnography on University Students in Colombo. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319763354 |
| Small, Meredith | The Culture of Our Discontent: Beyond the Medical Model of Mental Illness | Small, Meredith F. 2006. The Culture of Our Discontent: Beyond the Medical Model of Mental Illness. Washington, D.C: Joseph Henry Press. | https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Our-Discontent-Medical-Illness/dp/0309100666 |
| Spindler, George D. (Editor) | The Making of Psychological Anthropology | Spindler, George D., ed. 1980. Making of Psychological Anthropology. New edition edition. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.amazon.com/Making-Psychological-Anthropology-Dearborn-Spindler/dp/0520039572 |
| Stevenson, Lisa | Life Beside Itself: Imagining Care in the Canadian Arctic | Stevenson, Lisa. 2014. Life Beside Itself: Imagining Care in the Canadian Arctic. Berkeley: University of California Press. | https://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520282940 |
| Strauss, C. and Friedman, J.R. (Eds.) | Political Sentiments and Social Movements: The Person in Politics and Culture | Strauss, Claudia, and Jack R. Friedman, eds. 2018. Political Sentiments and Social Movements: The Person in Politics and Culture. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319723402 |
| Throop, E. | Psychotherapy, American Culture, and Social Policy: Immoral Individualism | Throop, E. 2009. Psychotherapy, American Culture, and Social Policy: Immoral Individualism. Culture, Mind, and Society. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. | https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230609457 |
| Tooker, Deborah E. | Space and the Production of Cultural Difference Among the Akha Prior to Globalization: Channeling the Flow of Life | Tooker, Deborah E. 2012. Space and the Production of Cultural Difference among the Akha Prior to Globalization: Channeling the Flow of Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. | http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/S/bo13211109.html |
| Watters, Ethan | Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche | Watters, Ethan. 2011. Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche. Reprint edition. New York: Free Press. | https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Like-Us-Globalization-American/dp/1416587098 |
| Xu, Jing | The Good Child: Moral Development in a Chinese Preschool | Xu, Jing. 2017. The Good Child: Moral Development in a Chinese Preschool. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. | https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=26737 |
| Yang, Jie | Unknotting the Heart: Unemployment and Therapeutic Governance in China | Yang, Jie. 2015. Unknotting the Heart: Unemployment and Therapeutic Governance in China. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. | http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100984600 |
| Other: UCSD Bibliography of Recommended Readings for Psychological Anthropology | https://ucsd.libguides.com/c.php?g=90954&p=585093 |