A person’s environment significantly influences his cognition functioning. The way people are brought up, the community beliefs and cultural practices build a person’s mindset. Consequently, people tend to exhibit different behaviors and perceptions about certain things. The book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Ann Fadiman illustrates how cultural beliefs and practices influence a person's mindset toward medical practices. One of the protagonists in this book is Lia, a child from two Chinese parents living in the USA. Lia had epileptic- a medical condition, but his parents associated his condition with supernatural beliefs by terming it as “ the spirit catches you, and you fall down.” (Fadiman, 2012). Medical disputes arose between Lia’s healthcare providers and his parents, as they had different views toward the modernized medical practices. They still believed in traditional healing and practices. Undoubtedly, Lee’s family psychology can be explained through the social-cultural theory.
Social-cultural practices significantly influenced Lee’s family to the extent of compromising Lia’s health. The social-cultural theory depicts that society contributes to an individual's cognitive development (Harre, 2012). People's behavior is a result of societal conditioning. Based on how Lee’s family was conditioned, it exhibited both strengths and challenges. The family appeared dedicated to ensuring the welfare of other family members. As illustrated in the book, Nao Kao (Lia’s father) ensured that he always took food to Foua (Lia’s mother) while in hospital after giving birth to Lia. Their culture conditioned them that women had to eat special meals up to thirty days after delivery. It was the husband's duty to take care of a nursing mother until she healed completely. Additionally, the Lee family's way of life showed strength based on the connection they had with their children. Their cultural beliefs termed children as the greatest possession one can possess (Fadiman, 2012). Consequently, children from Lee’s family society were loved genuinely and rarely abused.
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However, Lee’s family conditioning posed challenges, mainly because they lived in a foreign country with distinct values and beliefs. The most significant challenge was the language barrier. Americans offered almost all essential services in America. As a result, Lee’s family faced difficulties in conducting a healthy interaction with the Americans. Furthermore, they were unable to adopt the new way of life and omit some of their cultural beliefs that jeopardized their life, notably the traditional health practices. As a psychologist dealing with Lee’s family, I would consider their cultural practices and beliefs toward clinical health practices. I would strive to establish a healthy environment where the family would feel comfortable to talk about anything. Lastly, it would be essential to educate them about the importance of a particular practice to ensure that they understand that it is appropriate for their best interest.
Unfortunately, there is a high possibility that the Lee family would not understand things from my perception, which will result to value disputes. In this scenario, my central role as a psychologist would be to change Lee’s family perception about clinical medicines to ensure that they religiously give their child the prescription administered to him by the doctor. However, the family may think that I am forcing my values on them, resulting in value conflict. Value conflict is prompted by the idea that one party is forced to conform to particular beliefs and values ( Kouzakova, 2012 ). One potential conflict that I would encounter with this family would be based on accepting the clinical medical practices. Based on the family’s inclination to traditional and spiritual healing, it would be almost impossible to convince them that clinical medicine is a better option. Furthermore, the family already believes that modern medicines act as a barrier to spiritual healing. This situation would provoke ethical considerations about the environment that Lia parents have been brought in. It is critical to understand how the social environment has affected a person’s mindset (Hutching, 2018). In some instances, it is ethical to allow people to hold onto their beliefs as long as they hurt no one. Additionally, it would be ethical that the child receives quality health services regardless of the parents' believes. Actions should be taken for the best interest of the child.
References
Fadiman, A. (2012). The spirit catches you, and you fall down: A Hmong Child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures . Macmillan.
Harré, R. (2012). Positioning theory: Moral dimensions of social-cultural psychology.
Hutchison, E. D. (2018). Dimensions of human behavior: Person and environment . Sage Publications
Kouzakova, M., Ellemers, N., Harinck, F., & Scheepers, D. (2012). The implications of value conflict: How disagreement on values affects self-involvement and perceived common ground. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 38 (6), 798-807.
