Epidemiology of Spirit Possession Among the Luvale of Zambia

Spring, Anita

doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-2400-3_9

Cited by 34 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Regarding the war-related nightmares, which are also called "posttraumatic nightmares" (Schreuder, Igreja, van Dijk, & Kleijn, 2001), participants identified them as related to their wartime experiences. With the exception of nightmares with sexual violence, our results are consistent with ethnographic descriptions that have established correlates among spirit possession, somatic symptoms and an incapacity for rearing young babies resulting in related morbidity (Boddy, 1989;Marlin, 2001;Sharp, 1994;Spring, 1978).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The anthropological literature also acknowledges the existence of "possession sickness" (Sharp, 1994) or "harmful spirit possession" in the sense that in some societies people also attribute the aetiology of varied illnesses to spirit possession. Harmful spirit possession contributes to an array of debilitating illnesses: excessively long and heavy menstruation (Spring, 1978), fertility disorders among women, miscarriages, infant mortality, stomach ache, chronic headaches and dizziness (Boddy, 1989;Sharp, 1994). The accumulation of these health problems creates family instability and may contribute to the occurrence of divorce (Igreja, Kleijn, & Richters, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The epidemiology of spirit possession in the aftermath of mass political violence in Mozambique

Igreja

Dias-Lambranca

Hershey

et al. 2010

Social Science & Medicine

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In this article we assess the prevalence rates of harmful spirit possession, different features of the spirits and of their hosts, the correlates of the spirit possession experience, health patterns and the sources of health care consulted by possessed individuals in a population sample of 941 adults (255 men, 686 women) in post-civil war Mozambique in 2003-2004. A combined quantitative-qualitative research design was used for data collection. A major study outcome is that the prevalence rates vary according to the severity of the possession as measured by the number of harmful spirits involved in the affliction. The prevalence rate of participants suffering from at least one spirit was 18.6 percent; among those individuals, 5.6 percent were suffering from possession by two or more spirits. A comparison between possessed and non-possessed individuals shows that certain types of spirit possession are a major cause of health impairment. We propose that knowledge of both local understandings of harmful spirit possession and the community prevalence of this kind of possession is a precondition for designing public health interventions that sensitively respond to the health needs of people afflicted by spirits.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The epidemiology of spirit possession in the aftermath of mass political violence in Mozambique

Igreja

Dias-Lambranca

Hershey

et al. 2010

Social Science & Medicine

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“…We might therefore predict that spirit possession will be a domain of religious activity that will tend to involve higher levels of participation from women than from men. That is potentially quite an interesting line of enquiry because the evidence from ethnography and historiography does seem to point in that direction (see Boddy 1989;Lewis 1971;Lewis, Al-Safi and Hurreiz 1991;Pressel 1980;Raybeck, Shoobe, and Grauberger 1989;Spring 1978;Wilson 1967).…”

Section: Strategy 1: Look For Variables That Amplify/suppress Universmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Evolution and Religion; Cognition and Religious Evolution

Whitehouse

2008

EAP / IEA

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This paper presents contemporary cognitive approaches to the evolution of religious beliefs. Arguments are put forward that different types of beliefs, or ‘modes of religiosity’, occur as a result of a number of evolutionary factors (biological, cultural, socio-political etc). At the same time, religions across the world retain a significant level of common and shared elements, also explained in evolutionary terms.

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“…Conflict models depicting possession as women's indirect claim for redress (135,138,139,218) tacitly depend for their authority on the perspectives socially dominant men and the assumptions of an androcentric anthropology (20,199). They leave much to be explained: By whose evaluation are women marginal?…”

Section: Gender Power Embodiment and Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%