Preview

Crazy Like Us Analysis

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1717 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Crazy Like Us Analysis
The book Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the Western Mind by Ethan Watters is interesting in a variety of manners. In my humble opinion, the novel is a bit one sided and it appear as if the author makes it a mission to ensure the readers view is in comparisons as the authors. Personally, upon reading the book I didn’t enjoy it as much as I believed I would. However, upon continuation of reading, the cases became a bit more intriguing, but still very one sided. In class we recently discuss the research methods of quantitative and qualitative. In relation to Watters book, his research and perspectives within the novel relays a very quantitative approach because of how precise and determined Watters’ is about the Western culture being one …show more content…
I believe a qualitative point of view is important when discussing psychology because when you only focus on things from a very precise outlook you are more prone to encounter a very one-sided argument. Watters’ almost makes it clear cut about his views of the Western culture. Where in all the cases discussed in the book Watters leaves me with the message of “here’s why the psychological research in this country is wrong, and here’s one case as to why it is”. It doesn’t focus on the future impact of psychology or how a lot of these psychological diagnoses were in the beginning stages of being introduced to the world so there were more prone to have faults. Also, I don’t believe Watters emphasizes enough how these countries are lacking in resources and psychological research. As a matter of fact, the book gears the attention to appear as though it’s America’s fault as to why people have been suffering in other parts of the country because we tried to implement our findings/standards of psychiatry to the rest of the …show more content…
It was interesting to read about Wentz’s efforts in communicating to the world and in Sri Lanka about depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The tsunami that striked was very out of the blue and for a country that wasn’t doing so good even before the country was hit with the catastrophic natural disaster, it was prone to impact people in a very powerful way. Also, it was interesting to read about the money that was being investing into the roads but not into trauma counselors for the people. This case truly sparked my personal thoughts of how does a country differentiate what’s more important? The land in which people live on or the actual mental health of the induvial that live on the land? Furthermore, the case discusses how the psychological wounds of individuals were finally being treated and addressed after the tsunami and was again, impacted by the United States. However, it was interesting for me to read upon this because in the previous case, they emphasized so much on how the influence of the actions of the western world shouldn’t be transformed into different cultures, but the way of focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder in this case was viewed in a more positive light. Yet, that little bit of shine didn’t last too long. The author then later goes on to bash the way that Westerners were going about treating and handling psychological treatment for PTSD. Going on to mention how even the way

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    When defining a problem or developing an approach to a problem, qualitative research is used when we don 't know what to expect. It is also used to explore issues related to the problem and deeper into issues of interest. Qualitative research methods are things like focus groups, triads, and bulletin boards. Quantitative is conclusive, as it tries to understand how relevant it is by looking for projectable results to larger population. In quantitative research data is collected through surveys, audits, and point of purchases. Since they both provide different perspectives and complement each other qualitative and quantitative should be used. Quantitative research is used to measure the incidence of various views, and opinions in a chosen samples, and is sometimes followed by qualitative research which is used to explore some more findings. In summary qualitative and quantitative approaches to research have different perspectives of situations. Qualitative…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Qualitative data is when researchers try to gather information usually based on a particular phenomenon. It aims to gather information regarding people’s opinions and views, also to understand people’s values, motivations, perceptions and reactions. The context of this data is usually rich and has depth to the information that has been given, so often can not be generalised to a wider population, nor can be transferred into statistics, unlike other methodologies such as quantitative data which uses a structured scientific approach towards collating data, in order to make the findings measurable and generalised to wider society. Therefore quantitative data does not bring out the feelings and opinions of the…

    • 1635 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Culture and PTSD, studies the cultural perspectives of local responses to trauma and PTSD amongst different cultures as defined in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. These essays touch on the present state of PTSD in the Western hemisphere amongst members of society, and how the introduction of PTSD shaped local understandings and the course of trauma-related disorders.…

    • 60 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rosenhan wanted to see if psychologists needed these tests, shouldn’t they be able to tell who is insane and who isn’t. Is diagnosis tied to patient or situation? He proposed to find it by admitting "pseudopatients" to psychiatric facilities and see if they are found to be normal. If they are not, means that the diagnoses are tied more to the situation than the patients.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the essay written by Mary Seymour “Call Me Crazy, But I Have to Be Myself”, is about her difficulties in dealing with the people who are not alike her. She discusses about her situations and how she faces the people by changing her behavior and changing herself into a different person. Whereas, in the essay written by Brent Staples “Night Walker”, is also about his life in which he is isolated from the people in the society where he is living. He is upset that people distinguish other person by looking at their skin color. If the person skin color is black he mentions that they decide them as a criminal who kills the people for his needs. The strategies that…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Through research this paper will explain the impact of historical trauma on: individuals, families and cultures within society.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    Miss

    • 3931 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Jones C (2004) Quantitative and Qualitative research: conflicting paradigms or perfect partners. Accessed via http://www.shef.ac.uk//nle 2004/proceedings/symposia/symposium 4 in 10 March 2010.…

    • 3931 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Twilight Zone

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As much as Northridge and its surrounding regions changed externally, so did the lives of the victims internally. Following this traumatic experience, I developed a keen awareness of the fragility of life and a newly restored appreciating for the simplest of my…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ptsd

    • 2311 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Silove, D. (2004). The Challenges Facing Mental Health Programmes for Post-Conflict and Refugee Communities. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 19(1), 90-96.…

    • 2311 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Since colonialism constantly reject the idea that the colonized are not savages, it leads to the colonized asking if they know who they truly are, ultimately psychological disorders follow. Fanon states that another source for these disorders can be from the exposure of violence by the colonist, and uses the example of how psychologist found a rapid high in post-traumatic stress disorder after the world wars, which results the author to conclude that if colonialism upheld the violence then the colonized may have the same disorders as the soldiers in WW1 and WW2. The author uses actual case studies in his explanation, drawing examples from his work in Algeria to explain how direct exposure of a traumatic event can develop a disorder in response to, such as the case of a thirty-seven-year-old who witnessed the massacre of his village in reaction had homicidal tendencies (Fanon 259). In other cases, psychological disorder is not developed because of a reaction to an event, but develop because of a general environment of violence, which is exhibited child refugees who cultivate fears of abandonment. The author concludes this chapter responding to academic who claim and argue that colonized people are prone to violence, by stating that it…

    • 1435 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Psychology and the Media

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Malin, H. Martin, Berlin, and Fred S. "Abstracts: Media distortion of the public 's perception of recidivism and psychiatric rehabilitation. Assessing symptom change in Southeast Asian refugee survivors of mass violence and torture - Psychology and mental health." Internet FAQ Archives - Online Education - faqs.org. 1991. 10 Oct. 2010 .…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wars natural disasters, fires, and major social changes can cause hard tolerable stress and major trauma, which often cause serious psychological problems and disorders. These conditions are all more common in the modern world and even threaten our…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Some of the major psychological problems that are encountered post-disasters are, but not limited to: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), paranoia, anxiety, aggressive behavior, guilt, sense of security was in jeopardy, phobias, depression, levels of patriotism and religion were elevated, among others. PTSD is defined as “an anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic events and characterized by such symptoms as survivor guilt, reliving the trauma in dreams, numbness and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent thoughts and images.” (Ciechanowski, 2009). We often mistake PTSD and emotional problems as exclusive for our soldiers, when the reality is that anyone can be affected if expose to a traumatic event. Take note on how you will see evidence of these reactions as part of the aftermath of both tragic incidents.…

    • 2586 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were many harmful effects to the people of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka as well as numerous countries in Southeast Asia. The effects on tourists and residents included physical and metal injuries, such as psychological problems, respiratory infections, bone fractures, and skin diseases. The Boxing Day tsunami is estimated to have killed over 230,000 by causing victims to drown and also causing various other fatal injuries. (Indonesia Commemorates). These deaths have a physical and mental effect on the people of Indonesia, in particular the children who have lost their family in this natural disaster. In “Psychosocial aid to children after the Dec. 26 tsunami”, Kathleen Kostelny and Michael Wessells focus on the necessities of children after the 2004 tsunami. They convey the causes, effects and solution to the psychological dismay of the children after such a horrific event. Kostenly…

    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This neglect was not limited to culture; included was women, gays, lesbians, and people of color, just about anyone who did not fit the European prototype. The main reason behind this neglect can be seen in the American Psychological Association; the group that is the gatekeeper of the psychological world. In this organization people have aspired to his or her apex within the profession, know today as a doctorate of psychology. Over 90% of doctorate psychologist is European American (Bernal & Castro, 1994). This group is dominated by men who have over time contended that most of them do not see themselves as a part of an ethnicity. Rather they would prefer to be known as an America, neither European American nor white. The political correct attitude of colorblindness highlights the void of cultural study. When research was conducted it was done so with European American as participants. This was seen as a standard practice for studying psychology and the study results were revealed as applicable to non European Americans. Culture and Ethnicity was considered and most often viewed as a nuisance that complicated things rather than contributing to the…

    • 1630 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays