In a recent article in Ethnos, (volume 68), Erdmute Albert wrote that among the Baatombu in Northern Benin (which is in western Africa), child fosterage is not an exception in crisis situations, as in western cultures, but the common upbringing pattern. Until some years ago, most of the Baatombu children did not grow up with their biological parents, but were fostered by “social parents.” There is a strong attitude of shame related to biological parenthood and an attempt to deny it. The children are not told who their parents are. In public, the biological parents keep a bashful distance from their offspring, do not show emotion, and the social parents are regarded as the true parents. This arrangement of the concrete practices of fosterage is deeply imbedded in their norms and ideas about parentage.

Among anthropologists, this is a “functional” approach to the practical problems of raising children. But it does raise the question of, “To whom does a child belong?” Obviously, this practice of social parenting, common in many parts of Africa, is quite different than the Euro-American conception of children as belonging exclusively to their biological parents. Of course, many American adolescents are quick to say that they belong only to themselves. But when western children spend their childhood in foster care, multiple issues of attachment develop.

We discuss aspects of attachment and many ethical issues regarding children in our programs. Please visit our course catalog for details.

Men and women are different—at least when it comes to mental illness. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression, while men tend toward substance abuse or antisocial disorders, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.

Published online in APA’s Journal of Abnormal Psychology®, the study looked at the prevalence by gender of different types of common mental illnesses. The researchers also found that women with anxiety disorders are more likely to internalize emotions, which typically results in withdrawal, loneliness and depression. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to externalize emotions, which leads to aggressive, impulsive, coercive and noncompliant behavior, according to the study. The researchers demonstrated that it was differences in these liabilities to internalize and to externalize that accounted for gender differences in prevalence rates of many mental disorders.

Lead author, Nicholas Eaton, MA, states that gender-focused prevention and treatment efforts should be considered. “In women, treatment might focus on coping and cognitive skills to help prevent rumination from developing into clinically significant depression or anxiety,” and “In men, treatment for impulsive behaviors might focus on rewarding planned actions and shaping aggressive tendencies into non-destructive behavior.”

In our recent program on “The Therapeutic Relationship,” ten experts discuss issues in psychotherapy ranging from attachment, mindfulness, and cultural complexities to neuroscience and termination. Please visit our course catalog for details.