News

office hour during winter semester 2023/24:

Wednesdays 4 p.m. -6 p.m.

Reservation via Learnweb:

name of the course:
'Sprechstunde_Annika Strauss_Institut für Ethnologie' - https://sso.uni-muenster.de/LearnWeb/learnweb2/course/view.php?id=57156

Password: Sprechstunde'Strauss#563

You can attend the office hour via Zoom or in presence in my office in the Institute of Ethnology.

Annika Strauss is the Student Advisor for the BA Cultural and Social Anthropology.

Teaching

Teaching in the winter semester 2023/24

084875

Verrückte Ethnografien
10.10.23 - 30.01.24, Di 16-18, STU 105 (2.10)

084877

Forschendes Lernen
12.10.23 - 01.02.24, Do 16-18, STU 102 (2.4)
12.10.23 - 01.02.24, Do 16-18, STU 104 (2.1)
12.10.23 - 01.02.24, Do 16-18, STU 105 (2.10)

Einzeltermin, 08.12.23, Fr 16-18
Einzeltermin, 26.01.24, Fr 16-18
Einzeltermin, 27.01.24, Sa 17-
Einzeltermin, 03.02.24, Sa 17-

Teaching in the summer semester 2023

082877	Konzeption eines Forschungs- oder Berufsfeldprojekts 04.04.23 - 11.07.23, Di 16-18, STU 105 (2.10)
082883	Fieldwork in Psychiatry 06.04.23 - 13.07.23, Do 16-18, STU 105 (2.10)

Teaching in the winter semester 2022/23

080877

Verrückte Ethnografien
11.10.22 - 31.01.23, Di 16-18, SRZ 115

080880

Forschendes Lernen
13.10.22 - 02.02.23, Do 16-18, SRZ 117

Einzeltermin, 17.11.22, Do 18-20, SRZ 117
Einzeltermin, 01.12.22, Do 18-20, SRZ 117
Einzeltermin, 15.12.22, Do 18-20, SRZ 117
Einzeltermin, 12.01.23, Do 18-20, SRZ 117
Einzeltermin, 26.01.23, Do 18-20, SRZ 117

Teaching in the summer semester 2022

088874	“Wir alle spielen Theater” - Begegnungen zwischen Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie und der darstellenden Kunst 05.04.22 - 12.07.22, Di 16-18, SRZ 117
088878	Fieldwork in Psychiatry 06.04.22 - 13.07.22, Mi 14-16, SRZ 113

Teaching in the winter semester 2021/22

086877	Verrückte Ethnografien 13.10.21 - 02.02.22, Mi 12-14, ULB 201
086880	Angewandte Ethnologie und Kollaborative Forschung 12.10.21 - 01.02.22, Di 16-18, ULB 202

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2021

084873	Einführung in grundlegende Fragen und Themen der Medizinethnologie Einzeltermin, 16.04.21, Fr 16-18 Einzeltermin, 21.05.21, Fr 12-18 Einzeltermin, 22.05.21, Sa 10-16 Einzeltermin, 09.07.21, Fr 12-18 Einzeltermin, 10.07.21, Sa 10-16
084889	Fieldwork in Psychiatry Einzeltermin, 13.04.21, Di 16-18 Einzeltermin, 04.05.21, Di 16-20 Einzeltermin, 18.05.21, Di 16-20 Einzeltermin, 01.06.21, Di 16-20 Einzeltermin, 15.06.21, Di 16-20 Einzeltermin, 29.06.21, Di 16-20

Teaching in the Winter Semester 2020/21

082877

Angewandte Medizinethnologie und partizipative Gesundheitsforschung
03.11.20 - 09.02.21, Di 16-18

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2020

080874

Einführung in die grundlegende Fragen und Themen der Medizingethnologie

Teaching in the Winter Semester 2019/20

088877

Angewandte Medizinethnologie und partizipative Gesundheitsforschung
08.10.19 - 28.01.20, Di 16-18, SRZ 17

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2019

086875

Einführung in grundlegende Fragen und Themen der Medizinethnologie
02.04.19 - 09.07.19, Di 16-18, SRZ 105

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2018

082873

Öffentlicher Raum, Staat und bürokratische Praxen in Südasien
10.04.18 - 10.07.18, Di 14-16, STU 102 (2.4)

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2017

089084

Master- and PhD-Colloquium
25.04.17 - 25.07.17, Di 16-18, STU 102 (2.4)

In Cooperation with Ioannis Manos

089068

Empirische Verfahren
20.04.17 - 25.05.17, Do 12-14, SP4 108
Einzeltermin, 01.06.17, Do 12-15, RK40.13
Einzeltermin, 22.06.17, Do 12-16, RK40.13
Einzeltermin, 29.06.17, Do 12-15, SP4 108
Einzeltermin, 06.07.17, Do 12-16, SP4 108
Einzeltermin, 20.07.17, Do 12-16, SP4 108

Teaching in the Winter Semester 2016/17

087087

Reading Ethnography and Doing Autobiography in a Transnational Context
Single-Session, 27.10.16, Do 12-14, STU 105 (2.10)
Single-Session, 04.11.16, Fr 10-17, STU 105 (2.10)
Single-Session, 10.02.17, Fr 10-12, STU 105 (2.10)
Course Syllabus Reading Ethnography and Doing Autobiography Online

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2016

085109

Empirische Verfahren
15.04.16-15.07.16, Fr 12-14, Fürstenberghaus - F030
Single-Session, 06.05.16, Fr 14-16, Fürstenberghaus - F030
Single-Session, 08.07.16, Fr 14-16, Fürstenberghaus - F030
Single-Session, 16.07.16, Fr 14-16, Fürstenberghaus - F030

Teaching in the Winter Semester 2015/16

083091

Social Anthropology of Organizations, Bureaucracy, and Corruption
28.10.15 - 10.02.16, Mi 10-12, STU 105 (2.10)
28.10.15 - 10.02.16, Mi 10-12, STU 104 (2.1)
Description of the class

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2015

088741

Empirische Verfahren
07.04.15 - 19.05.15, Di 16-18, SRZ 114
Einzeltermin, 03.07.15, Fr 09-17, ES 24
Einzeltermin, 04.07.15, Sa 09-17, ULB 201

Teaching in the Winter Semester 2014/15

088777

Übung Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2014

088792	Empirische Verfahren Description of the exercise
088701	Gender and ‘Addiction’ - Crosscultural Perspectives on a Psychiatric ‘Diagnosis’ Description of Class

Teaching in the Winter Semester 2013/14

088646	Fieldwork in Psychiatry Description of Class and Readings
088684	Übung Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten Veranstaltungsbeschreibung

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2013

088729	Lektürekurs zur Vorlesung Veranstaltungsbeschreibung und Seminarplan zum Herunterladen Die Veranstaltung wurde im Rahmen des Weiterbildungskurses ‚Innovatives Lehrprojekt‘ (Dozent Dr. Jens H. Hellmann) am Zentrum für Hochschullehre (ZHL) dokumentiert. Der vollständige Bericht kann auf Anfrage gerne eingesehen werden. Einen zusammenfassenden Überblick finden Sie hier
088843	Sex and Gender in Medicine and Psychiatry Description of Class and Readings

Teaching in the Winter Semester 2012/13

088720	Begleitseminar zur Vorlesung
088740	Einführung in das wissenschaftliche Arbeiten

Curriculum Vitae

10/2010	Magistra Artium in Ethnologie (Ethnology, main subject), Politikwissenschaften (Political Science, first subsidiary subject) und Wirtschaftspolitik (Politics of Economics, second subsidiary subject), Subject of final thesis: “Homeless Madmen/women – Ethnography of a Rehabilitation Project for Mentally Ill Roadside Destitutes in Western India”
Seit 11/2010	Doctoral candidate of Ethnology at the Institut für Ethnologie (Department of Ethnology)/ Westfaelische-Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster; doctoral adviser: Prof. Dr. Helene Basu
09/2012 - 08/2014	Assistant Lecturer at Institut für Ethnologie/WWU Münster
Since 09/2014	NRW-Zertifikat „Professionelle Lehrkompetenz für die Hochschule“ [North Rhine-Westphalian Certificate “Professional Teaching Competency in Academia”]
11/2016 - 3/2017	Guest Lecturer at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, School of Rural Development Tuljapur, Maharashtra, India
since 11/2018	‚Theatre Education‘ at TPZ Münster [Weiterbildung ‚Theaterpädagogik‘ am Theaterpädagogischen Zentrum Münster, vom Bundesverband Theaterpädagogik (BUT) empfohlen]
since 11/2018	Project coordinator at IFAK e.V. in a Community Health Project in Hustadt/Bochum [Projektkoordination (IFAK e.V.) in einem Community Health Projekt in der Hustadt/Bochum]

Field Research

03.2007	Research internship at ZIPP – Zentrum fuer Transkulturelle Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie [Centre of Transcultural Psychiatry and Psychotherapy] at the Charité (Berlin) under the supervision of Dr. med. E. Wohlfart; study research project „Wahrnehmung von Besessenheit unter in der Klinik für Psychotherapie und Psychiatrie beschäftigten PsychiaterInnen und PsychotherapeutInnen“ [„The Perception of Possession by Psychiatrist and Psychotherapists in the Clinic of Psychotherapy and Psychiatry/Charité“]
09. - 12. 2008	Research internship in an NGO concerned with the rehabilitation of mentally ill roadside destitutes near Mumbai/India sponsored by Heinrich Hertz-Stiftung NRW, Mentor: Dr. Katy Y. Gandevia (Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai)
03.2011 - 02.2012 03.2013 + 09.2013	Field research in two psychiatric institutions in Mumbai/India, data collection for phd-thesis „Sex-Gender and Psychiatry in Mumbai“, sponsored by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)
09/2012 - present	Sensory Ethnography in (university) classrooms

Interests and Focus Areas

Social Anthropology of Psychiatry, Medical Anthropology, Concept of Person and Self, Public Health, Sex and Gender (‘Geschlecht’), Organizational Anthropology, Anthropology of Biomedicine, Methodological Self-Reflection and Fieldwork, Learning and Teaching Social Anthropology.

Hobbys

Underwater Rugby, Photography, Pilates and Yoga, Improvisational Theater

Memberships

Association Memberships:

DGSKA (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie)> https://www.dgv-net.de/
EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists)> https://www.easaonline.org/
AGEM (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnomedizin)> http://www.agem-ethnomedizin.de/
ESE (Ethnologie in Schule und Erwachsenenbildung > http://www.ese-web.de/

Working Group Memberships:

DGSKA: AG Medical Anthropology> http://www.medicalanthropology.de/
AG Psychologische Anthropologie> https://www.dgv-net.de/arbeitsgruppen/
EASA: Teaching Anthropology Network> https://www.easaonline.org/networks/teaching/

Publications

Monographs and Edited Volumes

2011	„Ethnografie eines Rehabilitationsprojekts für psychisch kranke Obdachlose im westlichen Indien. Die heimatlosen Verrückten“. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovac.
2015	(zusammen mit: Marion Linska): „Selbstreflexion im Kontext medizinethnologischer Langzeitfeldforschung/Self-reflection in the Context of Long-term Field Research in Medical Anthropology“. Curare 38 (1+2).

Chapters in Edited Books

2019	“‘How did it feel for you?’ – Teaching and Learning (by) Emotional Reflexivity in Undergraduate Fieldwork Training”. In: Stodulka, Thomas; Dinkelaker, Samia and Ferdiansyah Thajib (ed.): “Affective Dimensions of Fieldwork”. New York: Springer.
forthcoming	“Framing Experiences: Diagnosing and Explaining Dissociative Phenomena in Indian and Brazilian Mental Health-Care Institutions” (together with Helmar Kurz)

Journal Articles

2008	Vom Ex verhext. Ein Fallbeispiel aus der Interkulturellen Psychiatrie. In: Ethmundo (6)
2010	''We are like a Family''. Selbst und Person in einer indischen Psychiatrie. In: Ethmundo (16)
2015	„Beyond the Black Box and Therapy Culture – ‚Verstörende‘ Feldforschungserfahrungen als Zugang zu lokalem Wissen verstehen lernen“. Curare 38 (1+2), S. 87-102 (Ed. together with Marion Linska: „Selbstreflexion im Kontext medizinethnologischer Langzeitfeldforschung/Self-reflection in the Context of Long-term Field Research in Medical Anthropology“).
2015	„Selbstreflexion im Kontext medizinethnologischer Langzeitfeldforschung. Einleitung“. In: Curare 38 (1+2), S. 9-24 (Ed. together with Marion Linska: „Selbstreflexion im Kontext medizinethnologischer Langzeitfeldforschung/Self-reflection in the Context of Long-term Field Research in Medical Anthropology“).
2017	„Experiments with Image Theatre: Accessing and Giving Meaning to Sensory Experiences in Social Anthropology.” Learning and Teaching. The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences 10 (3), S. 1-24. (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/latiss.2017.100203)

Teachings and Workshops

2018/19	Module: ‘Mental Health and Traditional Healing’, Trop Ed: Mental Health in Low-and Middle-Income-Settings, Programme by Wolfgang Krahl, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
2017	Workshop at DGV-Tagung “Zugehörigkeiten: Affektive, moralische und politische Praxen in einer vernetzten Welt”, 4th-7th October, Freie Universität Berlin, together with Cassis Kilian: “Verspielte EthnologInnen: Darstellende Kunst als reflexive Praxis zur Erkundung einer vernetzten Welt” [“Playful Anthropologists: Performing Arts as Reflexive Practice to Explore an Interconnected World”]
2016	Teaching Anthropology Network (TAN) lab at EASA Biennial Conference 'Anthropological legacies and human futures', 20th-23rd July, University of Milano-Bicocca, together with Jakob Krause-Jensen (Aarhus University): ‘Let’s experiment with image theatre! Introducing an experiential teaching method for accessing and giving meaning to sensory experiences’
2016	Workshop “Teaching and Learning Sensory Ethnography”; 8th April, University of Amsterdam
2016	Workshop: “Ethnography of Confinement and Institutional Lives”, together with Dr. Mahuya Bandyopadhay at DAAD Summer School ‘Postcolonial Encounters’, organized by the Department of Social Anthropology as a Part of the DAAD Programme “A New Passage to India”, Münster, June 24 th -25 th 2016
2015	Lab facilitated at EASA Teaching Anthropology Network-Conference: “One discipline, many ways: Teaching anthropology in changing contexts”, September 3rd -4th, Copenhagen: “Giving Meaning to Experiences – Experiments with Experiential Teaching Methods in a Study Abroad Programme”
2015	Lab facilitated during Workshop on „Postcolonial Encounters“ organized by Tata Institute of Social Sciences Tuljapur and Department of Social Anthropology, WWU Muenster, DAAD “A New Passage to India”; February 23rd-25th, Tuljapur Campus, Tuljapur, Osmanabad, Maharashtra, India: „Laboratory: Unsettling Experiences in Cross-Cultural Encounters”

Conference Presentations

2019	Paper at ‘Ethnologie im Ruhrgebiet’ (Hochschule für Gesundheit Bochum: Department of Community Health; Technische Universität Dortmund: Seminar für Kulturanthropologie der Textilien; Folkwang Universität der Künste Essen: Fachgruppe Musikwissenschaft; Ruhr-Universität Bochum: Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaft), 16th January: ‘Psychiatrische Institutionen in der Megacity Mumbai’
2018	Discussant at 15th EASA Biennial Conference ‘Staying, Moving, Settling’, 14th-17th August, Stockholm University, ENQA Roundtable: ‘(Un)Settling the discipline? The histories of queer_ing anthropology in Europe’, Convenors: Sebastian Mohr (Karlstad University), Anika Keinz (Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt/O), Michael Connors Jackman (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
2018	TAN (Teaching Anthropology Network) Panel at 15th EASA Biennial Conference ‘Staying, Moving, Settling’, 14th-17th August, Stockholm University, together with Ioannis Manos (University of Macedonia), Robert Gibb (Glasgow University) and Alex Strating (University of Amsterdam): ‘Teaching and learning anthropology and ethnography in transforming contexts: objectives, practices, pedagogies and challenges’, Chair Session ‘Teaching Medical Anthropology’
2017	Paper at DGV-Tagung “Zugehörigkeiten: Affektive, moralische und politische Praxen in einer vernetzten Welt”, 4th-7th October, Freie Universität Berlin: “'Doing gay and feeling female' – Transgressing biomedical categories in a psychiatric setting in Mumbai, India”
2017	Workshop at DGV-Tagung “Zugehörigkeiten: Affektive, moralische und politische Praxen in einer vernetzten Welt”, 4th-7th October, Freie Universität Berlin, together with Cassis Kilian: “Verspielte EthnologInnen: Darstellende Kunst als reflexive Praxis zur Erkundung einer vernetzten Welt” [“Playful Anthropologists: Performing Arts as Reflexive Practice to Explore an Interconnected World”]
2017	Paper at “Doing Sex: Men, Masculinity and Sexual Practices Conference”, 13th-14th July, Newcastle University: “'Doing gay and feeling female' – A queer narrative from a psychiatric setting in Mumbai, India”
2016	Report at Interims-Tagung of the working group ‘Ethnologische Bildung’ “TheorieFeldPraxis”, 24th-25th September, Universität Tübingen, together with Natalie Gies-Powroznik; M.A., Fatima El-Gazri, B.A., Constantina Rokos, B.A. and Alina Zurmühlen, B.A.: “Projektbericht: ‚Doing Engaged Anthropology‘ – Erfahrungen im Kontext eines Studierendenprojekts in einer Münsteraner Flüchtlingsunterkunft” [“Project Report: ‘Doing Engaged Anthropology’ – Experiences in the Context of a Study Project in a Munsteranian Refugee Camp”]
2016	Paper at 27th FK-AGEM Fachkonferenz Ethnomedizin “Medizinethnologie 2016: The State of the Art”, Heidelberg Völkerkundemuseum, 17th-19th June: “'Addiction Narratives' in Mumbai, Indien” [“’Addiction Narratives’ in Mumbai, India”]
2015	Presentation in the research seminar „Ce qui se dit, à qui et comment Approche panchronique et pluridisciplinaire“ sous la direction de Salomé Deboos, 11th December, Université de Strasbourg: „Communicating Sensory Fieldwork Experiences”
2015	Paper at 7th International Symposium, Global Mental Health – Mental Health in Developing Countries, October 31st, Munich: „What a Psychiatric Patient Can Tell Us about Psychiatric Culture?' - Reflections on Anthropological Fieldwork in Two Psychiatric Institutions in Mumbai/India“
2015	Paper given at DGV-Tagung 2015, „Krisen. Re-Formationen von Leben, Macht und Welt“, September 30th – Ocotber 3rd, Philipps Universität Marburg: Workshop 42, „Perception of Crises in South Asia – Processes of Negotiation in Decision Making“ Helene Basu in cooperation with Annika Strauss: „Coming in and Coming out – Crises and Negotiation surrounding Admission and Discharge Processes in an Indian Mental Health Institution“
2014	Paper given at 27th FK-AGEM e.V. “Global Mental Health – Mental Health in Africa, Asia and Latin America from Anthropological and Cultural Psychiatric Points of View/Psychische Gesundheit und Krankheit in Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika aus ethnologischer und kulturpsychiatrischer Sicht, Heidelberg Völkerkundemuseum“ June 27th-29th: „'What a Psychiatric Patient Can Tell Us about Psychiatric Culture?' - Reflections on Anthropological Fieldwork in Two Psychiatric Institutions in Mumbai/India“
2014	Talk at „Chalo India“, Indian Film Festival Münster, April 24th-26th: „Die weibliche Verrücktheit – Frauen zwischen Depression und Besessenheit in der indischen Psychiatrie” [„Female Madness – Women, Depression, and Possession in Indian Psychiatry]
2013	Paper given at 26th FK-AGEM e.V. "Stranger and Friend – Der Platz langfristiger Feldforschungen in den Diskursen zur 'Global Health' / The Place of Long Term Anthropological Field Research for the Project of 'Global Health'“, November 15th-17th – Anthropos-Institut in St. Augustin: „‚Staying Sane in Insane Places‘ – Reflektionen über ‚erschütternde‘ Feldforschungserfahrungen in psychiatrischen Settings“ [„Reflections on ‚Unsettling‘ Fieldwork Experiences in Psychiatric Settings“]
2012	International Conference „Psychotic Experiences, Religion, and Spirituality“, May 14th–16th, Université Paris Descartes, 45 rue des Saints-Pères – Paris: „Workshop: Fieldwork Notes on Religious Psychotic Episodes in Psychiatric Facilities” held together with Tiago Pires Marques (Cermes 3 - Un. Paris Descartes; CEHR – Catholic Un. Portugal), Livia Velpry (Cermes 3 - Un. Paris Descartes), and Mônica Nunes (NISAM – Federal University of Bahia)
2010	Paper given at 23rd FK-AGEM „40 Jahre Forschen im Interdisziplinären Arbeitsfeld Ethnologie & Medizin: Rückblick und Ausblicke“ [„40 Years of Research in the Interdisciplinary Field of Social Anthropology & Medicine: Retrospect and Perspectives“], Heidelberg Völkerkundemuseum, October 22th-24th: “’They are like our children’ - Das Rehabilitationskonzept einer NGO für psychisch kranke Obdachlose im westlichen Indien” [„The Concept of Rehabilitation Prevalent in an NGO Taking Care of Mentally Ill Roadside Destitutes in Western India“]
2007	Presentation at 4th Student-Symposium in Social-Anthropology, „Ethnologie – ein sinnliches Abenteuer“ [„Social Anthropology – A Sensual Experience“], June 15th-17th, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen: „Nicht mehr Herr der eignen Sinne?! – Überlegungen zur ethnologischen Interpretation des Phänomens der Besessenheit und seiner Wahrnehmung im westlich psychiatrischen Kontext“ [„Being Out of One‘s Senses!? - Reflections on Social Anthropological Interpretation of Possession Phenomena and its Perception in Western Psychiatric Contexts“]

Research Projects

Annika Strauss graduated (Magistra Artium) in Social Anthropology (Main Subject), Political Science (1st Subsidiary) and Economic Policy (2nd Subsidiary) in October 2010. Her final thesis is titled “Homeless Madmen/women – Ethnography of a Rehabilitation Project for Mentally Ill Roadside Destitutes in Western India” and is based on a field research conducted from September 2008 till February 2009 in an NGO near Mumbai/India. Since November 2010 she is doctoral candidate in Social Anthropology at the Institut für Ethnologie/Westfaelische-Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster (doctoral adviser: Prof. Dr. Helene Basu). Her research project "Sex-Gender and Psychiatry in Mumbai" is once more placed in the field of Transcultural Psychiatry. It focuses on the question how the category "sex-gender" moulds biomedical practice in two cosmopolitan (public and private) psychiatric institutions in Mumbai/India.

Summary Magister (Master) Project

“Homeless Madmen/women – Ethnography of a Rehabilitation Project for Mentally Ill Roadside Destitutes in Western India”

Up to now the local construction of biomedicine outside western cultures was discussed only in a minority of anthropological studies. This paper takes a close look at the cultural and social structures of a biomedical NGO in Western India which deals with the rehabilitation of mentally ill roadside destitutes. It is based on field data collected during a research which was carried out in 2008/9 in a psychiatric NGO located near Mumbai/Maharashtra.

The ailment of patients, which is treated in this NGO, becomes manifest in psychiatric symptoms on the one hand and in the loss of and separation from their families on the other. Accordingly the ideology of a successful treatment present in this organisation stresses the reduction of symptoms of the mental illness as well as the reunion of the patient with his/her family. This ideology has a major impact on the patterns of action within the organisation.

The ideal of a ‘healed’ mentally ill roadside destitute refers significantly to the Indian concept of a complete, ‘normal’ person: in the Indian context ‘thinking’ of a person without thinking of his/her social relations is almost impossible. Due to a lack of resources in the Indian health system – above all concerning mental health, a reunion with the family is mostly the only chance for the patient to get appropriate (long-term) care and treatment. India suffers from a shortage of public psychiatric institutions – in particular facilities taking care of long-term patients are less. So taking care of chronically ill patients is mainly reflected back on families.

Summary PHD-Project

“Sex-Gender and Psychiatry in India: A Comparative Study of Biomedical Practice in Public and Private Psychiatry in Mumbai Concerning its Engendered/Sexed and Gendering/Sexing Aspects”

The research project "Sex-Gender and Psychiatry in India" is placed in the field of Transcultural Psychiatry. It focuses on the question how the category "sex-gender" moulds biomedical practice in cosmopolitan psychiatric institutions in India. Currently only fragmentary anthropological observations concerning sex/gender aspects in the Indian biomedical psychiatry exist. Psychological and psychiatric studies which examined biomedical practice in connection with sex/gender considered latter primarily as a social variable which influences the biological core symptoms of mental illnesses. Different from these approaches this study considers "sex-gender" as a/n emic category/ies. Adopting Bourdieus theory of habitus the embodied, engendered/sexed and at the same time due to practices gendering/sexing aspects of clinical every day life should be described and analyzed. Here in particular (gendered/sexed) space in psychiatric institutions, gender/sex aspects of diagnosis (in particular addiction and the psychiatric view of “disorders” of gender identity/sexual orientation) and the role of (gendered/sexed) bureaucracy are focused on. Additionally the study compares the aspects of sexed/gendered and sexing/gendering psychiatric habitus in public and private institutions.