IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v26y1988i12p1175-1181.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Traditional thought and modern western surgery

Author

Listed:
  • Katz, Pearl
  • Kirkland, Faris R.

Abstract

This study, based in part on anthropological field work with surgeons, is an examination of some aspects of traditional thinking and practices which coexist with, and are embedded in, the scientific thinking and practices of modern surgery. The focus is on the role of these beliefs and practices in modern surgical culture in understanding the causes and prevention of post-operative infections. Three beliefs and practices that exist in traditional and modern medical systems are examined: (A) personalistic disease causes and cures; (B) myriad endogenous and exogenous disease causes; and (C) ritual practices. The adaptive and nonadaptive functions of these beliefs and practices in modern surgery are explored.

Suggested Citation

  • Katz, Pearl & Kirkland, Faris R., 1988. "Traditional thought and modern western surgery," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 26(12), pages 1175-1181, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:26:y:1988:i:12:p:1175-1181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0277-9536(88)90148-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:26:y:1988:i:12:p:1175-1181. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.