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Key Terms
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advocacy view  of applied anthropology; the belief that precisely because anthropologists are experts on human problems and social change, and because they study, understand, and respect cultural values, they should make policy affecting people.
anthropology and education  Anthropological research in classrooms, homes, and neighborhoods, viewing students as total cultural creatures whose enculturation and attitudes toward education belong to a larger context that includes family, peers, and society.
applied anthropology  The application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems.
cultural resource management (CRM)  The branch of applied archaeology aimed at preserving sites threatened by dams, highways, and other projects.
curer  Specialized role acquired through a culturally appropriate process of selection, training, certification, and acquisition of a professional image; the curer is consulted by patients, who believe in his or her special powers, and receives some form of special consideration; a cultural universal.
disease  A scientifically identified health threat caused by a bacterium, virus, fungus, parasite, or other pathogen.
emotionalistic disease theories  Theories that assume that illness is caused by intense emotional experiences.
health-care systems  Beliefs, customs, and specialists concerned with ensuring health and preventing and curing illness; a cultural universal.
illness  A condition of poor health perceived or felt by an individual.
ivory tower view  of applied anthropology; the belief that anthropologists should avoid practical matters and concentrate on research, publication, and teaching.
medical anthropology  Unites biological and cultural anthropologists in the study of disease, health problems, health-care systems, and theories about illness in different cultures and ethnic groups.
naturalistic disease theories  Include scientific medicine; theories that explain illness in impersonal systemic terms.
personalistic disease theories  Theories that attribute illness to sorcerers, witches, ghosts, or ancestral spirits.
practicing anthropologists  Used as a synonym for applied anthropology; anthropologists who practice their profession outside of academia.
schizoid view  of applied anthropology; the belief that anthropologists should help carry out, but not make or criticize, policy, and that personal value judgments should be kept strictly separate from scientific investigation in applied anthropology.
scientific medicine  As distinguished from Western medicine, a health-care system based on scientific knowledge and procedures, encompassing such fields as pathology, microbiology, biochemistry, surgery, diagnostic technology, and applications.







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