Papers by Annemiek Richters
Journal of Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, Apr 30, 2007
Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, Jan 29, 2016
ABSTRACT This article maps the particular statistical representation of diversity that becomes vi... more ABSTRACT This article maps the particular statistical representation of diversity that becomes visible when Quechua ethnoracial identification in Peru is framed as multiple. It does so against a backdrop of uncertainty regarding how to categorize the heterogeneity and complexity of subpopulations, which arise when multiple ascriptions are considered. Using the 2007–2008 Peruvian Demographic and Health Surveys, which provide data of women of reproductive age, the study examines how indigenous Quechua women self-identify and what factors affect their choices. We modeled the relationship between a number of cultural and sociodemographic variables and a self-identification measure that offered respondents the opportunity to identify with multiple ethnoracial categories and to ascribe to them with different degrees of intensity. Challenging the prevailing contraposition between indigeneity and mestizaje, the study reveals that multiple self-identification can yield relevant insights into cultural diversity and sociodemographic variability within the Quechua population, and offers an acceptable trade-off between the reductionism of single option self-identification and the maximized validity of unprompted open response methods.
Background: Children who participated in this study were born and lived in the context of armed c... more Background: Children who participated in this study were born and lived in the context of armed conflict. They were displaced from their homesteads to a relatively safer Gulu Municipality and immediate surroundings where they lived in night commuters’ shelters and congested camps. A substantial number of them had witnessed and experienced severe war atrocities like killings of close kin, abductions, landmine injuries, assaults and gender-based violence. Methods: A one year ethnographic study (2004-2005) with children aged 9-16 years was triangulated with a cross-sectional survey (N=165) to investigate common health complaints and quests for therapy. Child-adapted qualitative methods were used, such as interviews; focus groups discussions; vignettes; and workshops were conducted to identify children’s wartime experiences, medicine use, their coping mechanisms and perspectives about how to minimise complaints symptomatic of psychological distress. Findings: Complaints symptomatic of psychological distress included persistent headaches, cen (evil spirits), chronic pains and aches, something painful moving around the body, cwinya cwer (sadness), and can (psychological pain). Children used sleep medicines (Valium and Piriton), attended healing services, used atika (Labiate species) plants in attempts to restore health. Ex-combatants were advised to seek forgiveness and reconcile with the victims of violence. Discussion: Health care seeking by children traumatized by war occurred in the context of medical pluralism with the goal to restore health. Children’s perspectives did not include professional approaches as a source for help. This study recommends comprehensive approaches to address the various chronic health problems of children and their underlying causes.
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2011
During the prolonged armed conflict in Northern Uganda, the state through its Uganda People's... more During the prolonged armed conflict in Northern Uganda, the state through its Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were based in the conflict zone to protect and promote psychosocial well-being of the civilians. Nevertheless people in this region continued to be exposed to dangers of wartime and psychosocial suffering. This chapter seeks to assess the conflicting roles played by the state and NGOs, also called humanitarian agencies in the prevention and alleviation of psychological distress. While we address this issue, children's perspectives about suffering, distressm survival and lack of appropriate care will constitute our main empirical evidence. The field date provided in this chapter are based on one year of ethnographic fieldwork in Gulu district in 2004-2005. The doctoral research focused on experiences of displaced children aged 8-16 years, including ex-combatants, who had fled to a relatively safer Gulu municipality from t...
Rwanda is well known for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. What is less known is the increase ... more Rwanda is well known for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. What is less known is the increase in everyday partner violence that has come about as a legacy not only from the genocide but also from the war preceding the genocide. A range of war and genocide-related factors continue to contribute to family conflict and intimate partner violence in Rwanda to this day. This raises particular challenges for interventions aimed at curbing such incidences. This article presents arguments for community-based sociotherapy as a psychosocial approach that can effectively meet these challenges. The qualitative study that informed the article was situated in the north of Rwanda. Data collection methods included interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation and informal conversations. Data were coded and categorised in relation to the main research questions. Social disconnection and mistrust as legacies of the war and genocide proved to be major issues underlying family conflict and partner violence. Sociotherapy reportedly restores trust, dignity, respect and a caring attitude among its participants, thereby facilitating the creation of a home environment in which husband and wife start to openly address their problems, cease different forms of partner violence, raise their standard of living and become role models in their neighbourhood. Community-based sociotherapy as a grassroots intervention has proven to be an effective complement to more top-down public and political responses to gender-based violence.
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, Jan 20, 2023
Medische Antropologie, 2005
The 2004 annual symposium organised by the journal Medische Antropologie focused on the theme 'Vi... more The 2004 annual symposium organised by the journal Medische Antropologie focused on the theme 'Violence, health and human rights: Challenges for medical anthropology' (Richters 2004). It was held in Amsterdam on International Human Rights Day. December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The idea behind the Declaration was that the horrors of the Second World War should never be allowed to reoccur. Two years later the same General Assembly invited all states and interested organizations to observe December 10 as Human Rights Day, to mark the adoption of the Universal Declaration; more specifically, to remind us of persisting human rights problems in our communities in the world, and of the enormous efforts still required to make human rights a reality for all. Human Rights Day 2004 was dedicated to human rights education, designating the conclusion of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004). In response to a call by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan, future initiatives for the enhancement of human rights education worldwide were discussed by the General Assembly "in order to develop and nurture in future generations a culture of human rights, to promote freedom, security and peace in all nations" (Anan 2004). We may consider Anan's appeal to the world to integrate human rights issues in curricula also as a challenge for medical anthropology: the challenge to step up our efforts to address these issues in teaching. We believe that, although many students from conflict or postconflict societies come to the Netherlands for further study in medical anthropology and public health, there is still little attention for the theme of violence and human rights in the international curricula of the postgraduate and advanced masters and PhD programs offered to them. While medical anthropology has always addressed human rights issues, such as 'the right to health', its explicit focus on violence developed more recently. Particularly during the last decade has medical anthropology given more attention to this issue. In the ten papers discussed during the symposium a whole range of concepts of violence was presented. Some papers focused on one specific type of violence, others on diffuse forms of it or on the continuum of violence in people's lives. The concepts
BRILL eBooks, 2010
CONTENTS List of Illustrations Colour Plates Preface Introduction Lidwien Kapteijns and Annemiek ... more CONTENTS List of Illustrations Colour Plates Preface Introduction Lidwien Kapteijns and Annemiek Richters Making Memories of Mogadishu in Somali Poetry about the Civil War Lidwien Kapteijns The Road, the Song and the Citizen: Singing after Violence in KwaZulu-Natal Liz Gunner Maisha bora, kwa nani? A Cool Life, for Whom? Mediations of Masculinity, Ethnicity, and Violence in a Nairobi Slum Naomi van Stapele Testimonies of Suffering and Recasting the Meanings of Memories of Violence in Post-war Mozambique Victor Igreja Suffering and Healing in the Aftermath of War and Genocide in Rwanda: Mediations through Community-Based Sociotherapy Annemiek Richters "The balsak in the Roof ": Bush War Experiences and Mediations as Related by White South African Conscripts Diana Gibson List of Contributors Index
Medische Antropologie, 2011
The article explores how claims about the universal applicability of biomedicine work out in the ... more The article explores how claims about the universal applicability of biomedicine work out in the particular context of a private health care project in a non-western setting. The empirical data are derived from an ethnographic study in and around a maternity clinic that was set up on request of a village population in southwest Mali. From a Dutch midwifery perspective this clinic can be perceived as a zone of awkward engagement for the imagined universality of biomedicine within the local health and gender arena. Biomedically trained midwives working in the clinic perceived the dissemination of information on pregnancy and birth as potentially dangerous and equated 'modern' healthcare with dispensing drugs. The midwives were not autonomous and experienced logistic and existential challenges when referring patients with obstetric complications to a higher echelon of care. Gender relations and a moral discourse of shame inhibited pregnant women's access to healthcare facilities; local perceptions of the power of words impacted the quality of care. Biomedicine was made to fit the local context with its specific moralities. However, the new practice raises the question whether it is ethically justified. Small-scale private healthcare initiatives may do more harm than good in circumstances of extreme poverty, gender inequality and poor infrastructure, and should therefore be implemented with caution.
Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks, Sep 23, 2019
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or ... more No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters' suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.
African Journal of Reproductive Health, May 1, 1999
Mediations of Violence in Africa, 2010
This volume has benefited substantially from the anonymous reader comments provided to us through... more This volume has benefited substantially from the anonymous reader comments provided to us through the publisher. We alone, of course, are responsible for its inevitable shortcomings. The editors would like to further thank the following institutions. Lidwien Kapteijns acknowledges the National Endowment of the Humanities, Wellesley College, and the Halabuur Centre for Culture and Communication in the Horn of Africa for their support of her sabbatical research. Annemiek Richters acknowledges the Leiden University Medical Center for granting her the study leave at NIAS during which she could lay the foundation for her contribution to this book. We would also like to acknowledge each other. In all aspects of the work that has gone into putting this volume together-from interacting with contributors to theoretical concepts-we have learned from each other and come to appreciate each other's strengths. This volume shows how those who have experienced violence strive to come to terms with its consequences as well as how intensely political and contested such coming to terms almost always is. We believe that the perspectives it presents will be of interest to students, scholars, and practitioners with a wide range of interests.
Patient Education and Counseling, 1998
Accounts of Zimbabwe's political crisis have mostly presented soldiers in the army as defende... more Accounts of Zimbabwe's political crisis have mostly presented soldiers in the army as defenders of President Robert Mugabe's regime without any mention of the regime's victimization of its own soldiers. To escape further victimization many of these soldiers deserted and migrated to South Africa. In exile, their military bonds remain a significant aspect of their lives. This article explores how Zimbabwean army deserters in South Africa deal with their past and survive in exile. The exploration is based on qualitative research using life histories, focus group discussions, informal conversations, and observation. It was found that the thirty-nine army deserters surveyed formed the equivalent of a 'military unit', albeit in exile, to manage their pasts, maintain their sense of dignity, and lobby for political amnesty from the Zimbabwean government.
European Journal of Psychotraumatology
Trials
Background Community-Based Sociotherapy (CBS) is an approach that was introduced in Rwanda in 200... more Background Community-Based Sociotherapy (CBS) is an approach that was introduced in Rwanda in 2005, with the aim of improving psychosocial well-being among its participants and facilitating reconciliation processes. Over the years, CBS has been adapted contextually and the effectiveness of the approach has been measured in different ways, using qualitative and quantitative study designs. This study specifically assesses the effectiveness of CBS in terms of fostering the social dignity of participants as the primary outcome. Methods/design A cluster randomized controlled trial design with person-level outcomes whereas the CBS treatment is delivered at the cluster level. A total of 1200 eligible participants will be randomly assigned to two groups in a 1:1 ratio. Participants in the intervention group will receive the CBS intervention, while the control group will be waitlisted. The primary outcome measure is a self-designed and psychometrically validated Social Dignity Scale. The sec...
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Papers by Annemiek Richters