UC San Diego

Over the past several decades, a variety of cross-cultural studies have been undertaken to explore the relationship of culture to schizophrenia (cf. Draguns, 1980; Kennedy, 1974; Sauna, 1980). Several investigators (e.g., Murphy, 1982, p. 78) have concluded that schizophrenia is “widely distributed around the world” and “takes a rather similar form in all the diverse societies in which it is found.” In light of these data, it may have seemed reasonable to assume that schizophrenia is not significantly influenced by sociocultural forces. However, in the wake of recent findings by the World Health Organization, such an assumption now appears unfounded.