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Answer: Applied anthropologists take anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and techniques and use them to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems. This work might include forensic anthropology, which is the application of biological anthropology to the law; development anthropology, which helps assess the social and cultural dimensions of economic and social development; medical anthropology, which applies anthropological knowledge to health systems; or environmental archaeology, which studies culture and the environment. Applied anthropologists often work for international development agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development or the World Health Organization. However, applied anthropologists are hired by many other organizations as well. Answer: Many development projects ignore cultural diversity and try to impose social models that are incompatible with existing social, cultural, and economic practices and conditions in target communities. As a result, many projects fail. Kottak argues that development projects should make greater use of indigenous social models—traditional social units, such as clans, lineages, and other extended kin groups. Indeed, development is most effective when it respects and builds upon indigenous cultural practices and social structures, rather than attacking or trying to change them. Answer: No, health care systems are a cultural universal. All societies have a set of beliefs, customs, and specialists concerned with ensuring health and preventing and curing illness. In Western societies, health care systems are centered on hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. However, just because a society lacks a Western-trained physician doesn't mean that it lacks a way of dealing with illness. In the textbook, Kottak argues that the world's oldest profession, besides hunter and gatherer, is that of curer. All societies have individuals who are responsible (either part- or full-time) for treating illness. In all societies, curers pass through a culturally defined process of selection and training, although that process varies between cultures. Answer: In many ways, Western medicine is better than non-Western medicine. However, it is not better in every way. There are thousands of effective drugs to treat myriad diseases; preventive health care improved during the last century; and modern surgical procedures are safer and more effective than those of traditional societies. However, it is important to point out some of the questionable aspects of Western medicine, including overprescription of drugs, unnecessary surgery, and the impersonality and inequality of the patient-doctor relationship. More importantly, traditional medicine usually does not distinguish between biological and psychological causation. Traditional curers focus on how poor health stems from a combination of physical, emotional, and social causes. As a result, traditional curers often succeed with health problems that Western medicine classifies as psychosomatic—not a disease, therefore not an illness—and dismisses as not requiring treatment. Non-Western medicine shows us that patients can be treated effectively as whole beings, using a combination of methods that prove beneficial. Answer: Anthropology is a cross-cultural discipline in which you can develop and hone yours skills as a critical thinker and creative problem solver. Anthropology's breadth will not only expose you to different cultural groups from all over the world, but it also requires you to draw on many other disciplines, such as history, political science, economics, religious studies, psychology, and sociology. Even if a person's future job will have little or nothing to do with anthropology in a formal or obvious sense, a background in anthropology will provide a useful orientation when working with other people. Many individuals who major in anthropology go on to pursue careers in unrelated fields. |