The Application of Transcultural Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Clinical Practice

The 9th Congress of The Asian Society for Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (ASCAPAP) and 3rd National Congress of the Indonesian Association of
Child and Adolescent Mental Health ( IACAMH)

Cultural Diversity, Challenging Life Events and Stigma:
IMPROVING CHILD AND ADOLESCENT
QUALITY OF LIFE

24-26 August 2017,
Hotel Tentrem - Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Programming Book (Abstract)

The Application of Transcultural Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Clinical Practice

Jan Prasetyo

Indonesia

Children and adolescents are individuals who are still in the process of development to adulthood. They are characterized by rapid changes psychologically as well as physically. Children from different cultural backgrounds living in a society with a different cultural majority, or in a rapidly changing society, have to face and contend themselves with the process of enculturation and acculturation (Berry et al. 1986; Canino & Spurlock, 2000). Especially in countries where multiple subcultures, ethnicities, religions exist together, they strongly will relate to adjustments, e.g. with the norms and values emphasized by the child’s parents/families, school and society. Most clinicians agree on the need to consider those as influencing environmental factors in the developmental process of children and adolescents, and need special attention in both assessment and treatment. (Giordano 1973; Papajohn & Spiegel 1975).

It is important for practitioners in clinical work, to be aware of some of the cultural patterns observed among different ethnic / religious and minority groups, and to evaluate problems and treatment intervention according to case by case evaluation, related to the family life style (beliefs and values), child rearing practices, adjustments of the developmental stages and scales, and its impact on the psychosocial developmental adjustments. Clinicians working with children and families should have basic understanding and skills to assess and treat transcultural issues in their patients.

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