Psychosocial Interventions for Health and Well-Being
January 1, 2018
Shubha Ranganathan
This chapter reviews anthropological and psychological literature on indigenous and ritual healing, tracing a shift from early studies of shamans and healing cults in non-Western contexts—focused on symbolic performances—to more recent attention on everyday contexts where people seek alternative healing for illness or distress. Key terminology has evolved from 'ritual healing' and 'indigenous healing' to 'everyday healing' or simply 'healing.' The chapter addresses central questions of efficacy and effectiveness, arguing for the importance of diverse healing practices in society while cautioning against simplistic attempts to incorporate alternative healing into biomedical treatment and cure.
Psychosocial Interventions for Health and Well-Being
January 1, 2018
Raghubir Singh Pirta
Belief in the supernatural plays a significant role in mental health, and a functional approach—examining what supernatural beliefs do for people—offers a way to reconcile believers and non-believers. Across cultures, supernatural agents have historically supported human psychological functioning. In India, where supernatural entities are pervasive, this perspective is especially relevant for psychologists. The chapter first discusses three aspects of this approach: community mental health, embedding the supernatural in collective life, and narrative forms. It then presents evidence from a case study of deity institutions in Himachal Pradesh, which are tied to physical, social, and mental well-being and foster cooperative action. Four aspects of supernatural agents are explored: diversity, order, learning, and image, the last involving memory processes like storage, organization, and retrieval of associations.