Cultural relativism

The DSM is careful to recognize that culture also determines definitions of mental illness. In the DSM, unusual and distressing behaviors such as culturally sanctioned responses to the death of a loved one are excluded from diagnosis. Most current conceptualizations of mental illness recognize that societal values play an important role in establishing whether something is a mental disorder (Lilienfeld Marino, 1995 Wakefield, 1992). The result is that the boundaries of mental illness are believed to shift as a function of culture, both across cultures and within cultures, over time. One important implication of cultural relativism is that definitions of mental illness will necessarily vary. 

Garcia, J., "African-American Perspectives, Cultural Relativism and Normative Issues Some Conceptual Questions.," In H.F. Flack and E. Pellegrino (eds.), African-American Perspectives on Biomedical Ethics. Washington, DC Georgetown University Press, pp. 11-66 (1992). 

Cultural relativism is defined as the interpretation of experience and knowledge in the light of a specific personal and cultural perspective (Herskovits, Melville. Cultural Relativism Perspectives in Cultural Pluralism Random House New York, 1972 p 15). Scientific relativism may be defined analogously. 

Ethnocentrism Using the practices of one s own culture to appraise the practices of another culture the opposite of cultural relativism. 

There are important and long-standing debates between opposing philosophical positions related to risk assessment, ranging from reahsm/positivism to constructivism/cultural relativism (Khnke Renn 2002 Shrader-Frechette 1991 Rosa 1998). 

Extreme constructivists posit that any risk construct is equally valid, i.e. that no mental construction is superior to others, and adhere to a form of cultural relativism (Shrader-Frechette 1991). 

VIII Constructivism Cultural relativism Qualitative descriptions Judgment, values and perceptions Risk is a cultural or social phenomenon. Lay people oriented. 

Abu-Lughod, L. (2002). Do Muslim women really need saving Anthropological reflections on cultural relativism and its others. American Anthropologist, 104( ), 783—790. 

Abu-Lughod, L. (2002) Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and its Others. American Anthropologist 104 783-90. 

If the sharp distinction between facts and values facihtates the acceptance of moral relativism, cultural relativism, its close cousin, makes essentially the same claim at the cultural level good anthropologists can describe different cultures, but nothing in their scientific training entitles them to rank or judge them. When it comes to ideas of good, bad, just, unjust, noble, and base, neither natural nor social science can determine whether any is truer than another facts are their domain. I do not wish now to test the truth of this idea, or to ask whether anyone can really live their lives in accord with it, so much as to show its influence and reflect on its consequences. 

Therefore, it would be nice to refute that premise. Unfortunately, I have no general argument to show this. The standard move against relativism is to say that it is self-refuting, because if it is true, it undermines its own validity. Since it denies universal validity, it cannot be universally valid itself. This move cannot be employed here, since the premise about disjunct cultures in itself is not a fully-fledged relativistic claim. I think the only way to deal with it is to take particular cases and to show that even quite distant cultures have much in common. This would be a useful exercise also because it would also help to sharpen our understanding of practices. Flowever, I cannot undertake that task now. 

Positivists assert that the risks are directly observable and measurable science is provable9. Relativists hold the view that scientific knowledge is bounded by paradigms of our understanding of the physical world [6]. Paradigms are incommensurable, so scientific discoveries are therefore always relative [7]. Two forms of relativism are differentiated constrained [6] and unconstrained [8]. The latter approach holds that the real world is 100% constructed through social and cultural influences [9]. The three approaches of positivism, constrained relativism and unconstrained relativism are schematically represented in Figure 1.1. 

A further divide between risk analysts arises between realism and constructionism, but this debate can be seen as unifying positivist and relativist approaches. Constructionism considers how social and cultural perspectives influence risk definitions and interpretations [12]. In comparison, realists exclude social and cultural phenomena in their reference of risk, but do acknowledge their existence [12]. Constructionism resembles constrained relativism and does not represent the paradigms of the unconstrained relativists. For positivists and realists, acknowledging risk perceptions provides a potential framework to incorporate the risk perceptions into their process of risk analysis because risk perceptions can be subject to scientific analysis as social phenomena. 

Kauffman, J., Hallahan, D. (Eds.) (1995). The illusion of full inclusion A comprehensive critique of a current special education bandwagon. Austin Pro-Ed Kauffman, J., Sasso, G. (2006a). Toward ending cultural and cognitive relativism in special education. Exceptionality, 14(2), 65-90... 

Collins, H. 2001. One more round with relativeism. In The One Culture J.A. Labin-ger H. Collins, Eds. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL. pp. 184—195. 

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