INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON SCIENCE AND MEDICAL PRACTICE:

• Autor(a) principal: Almeida, Angelica Aparecida Silva de
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Almeida, Alexander Moreira
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Interações (Uberlândia. Online)
• Texto Completo: http://periodicos.pucminas.br/index.php/interacoes/article/view/29528
• topic: History of science; History of psychiatry; Racism; Spiritism; Brazil; 20th century; Historia de la ciencia; Historia de la psiquiatría; Racismo; Espiritismo; Brasil; Siglo 20; História da ciência; História da psiquiatria; Racismo; Espiritismo; Brasil; Século XX

Several aspects of culture can impact medical science and practice, but these factors often do not receive due attention. This article addresses different cultural factors that generated discriminatory theories and practices in medical science and practice in relation to race and mediumistic religions in Brazil in the first half of the 20th century. Initially, based on primary sources, doctors' perspectives on the racial issue will be presented and then cognitive (ethnocentrism and prejudices), socioeconomic (not considering economic disadvantage) and historical factors (urbanization, prestige of eugenics, construction of the country ) that negatively influenced their attitudes. Subsequently, also based on primary sources, we present and analyze the medical discourse on spiritist madness, where mediumistic experiences are understood as symptoms or important causes of serious mental illnesses. Next, religious (Catholicism) and philosophical aspects (materialism and vision of science) that influenced this discourse are analyzed. It is concluded that there is a need to pay attention to the influence of cultural factors on the discourses and practices of different areas of science, as well as to pay attention to the limits of the areas covered by each scientific discipline.