Anthropology Assignments

Type answers to the following questions and submit in class next Friday. Be sure to type the question before your answer. Also include a Works Cited page. Need help with citations? http://libguides.nyit.edu/citations/refme

What is Anthropology?

This is the study of what makes us human. Anthropology takes into account broader aspect to comprehend the various aspects of human experiences. Anthropologists consider past, to examine how humans lived together thousands of years past and what significant is learnt from such history. It relates the past and the present.

Describe a normal human being in US culture; who is considered normal in our society?

Whether one is considered normal or otherwise is normally judged based on societal standards. The word normally changes as communal standards change. According to US culture normal person is defined as one that can meet the communal standards for instance has proper education, has good health, is social, update on community understanding and any other related communal expectations.

How does Western culture’s ideology of normalcy affect global mental health study and practice?

The ideology of normalcy has resulted to creation of ethnic and racial minorities. A lot of questions have risen and more so whether everything should be judged from the perspective on western cultures. The idea of normalcy has created wide gaps between different groups thus affecting the free collaboration and trade. Additionally, it has negatively affected global mental health. The people who do have origin in the west have been mostly ignored.

Where are many mental health clinics situated in the US? What might that tell us about our culture?

Majority of the health clinics are situated in the North where non-Americans exist and they belong to Indian and black-Americans indicating they are informal groups in America. It also indicates that the American culture exempts the non—USA citizens. Additionally, we have witnessed some speeches conducted indicating that non-Americans should not be members of the community in America.

“How can we recognize the shackles that tradition has laid upon us? For when we recognize them, we are also able to break them.” -Franz Boas, The Shackles Of Tradition. Based on your understanding of this week’s assignments, what are the “shackles of tradition” in US culture with regards to mental illness – stigma, treatment and research.

The shackles of tradition in American is the belief that the blacks, Indians or people believed to have origins outside America are non-Americans. This has caused different stigmas and segmentations based on origin in America. It also reduces the act of belonging for non-Americans.