Labeling and cultural expectations & the shaping of a sorcery syndrome in aboriginal Australia

An Aboriginal behavioral syndrome is described and considered from cognitive and social labeling perspectives. Fifty-seven cases of this fear of sorcery syndrome were encountered in a 5-year epidemiological survey of Aboriginals living on reserves in the Northern Territory. The syndrome is similar to others reported from around the world in cultural contexts where sorcery is an important component of belief systems. It is characterized by severe anxiety and agitation, a breakdown of normal social behavior, and a paranoid preoccupation with personal, physical, and social security. The syndrome is particularly noteworthy in that it circulates from one clansman to another, although the individual course of the disorder is relatively short term and nonrecurring. From a Western perspective, when the behavior associated with this syndrome assumes clinical proportions, appropriate diagnosis is made, and tranquilizing medication typically prescribed. The detailed epidemiology is in accordance with local definition of likely sorcery victims. This conformity with cultural expectation is taken as evidence for the labeling hypothesis. This analysis is based on theoretical models deriving from psychological and sociological approaches to psychiatric disorder, which suggest that the behaviors can only be explained by reference to the larger cultural context and belief system which is operating. The syndrome is institutionalized both in terms of social expression and control. Cognitive labeling and social labeling theory are seen as complementary models conjointly explaining both individual and social response to the illness, suggesting the interactive nature of adjustment etiologies. In addition, these approaches speak to the individual and social functions served by the sorcery symptoms described.