Toward a Cultural Anthropology of Disability and Rehabilitation

The author reviewed both the anthropology literature and the literature of disability and rehabilitation, examining the extent to which the concepts, theories, and methods of cultural anthropology have been applied to the conceptualization and understanding of "disability and rehabilitation " as a cultural phenomenon. Future directions for investi-gation are suggested, with particular reference to its application in rehabilitation coun-seling practice and research. he aim of this article is to survey the contributions that cultural anthropology has made to the study of JL disability (excluding psychiatric disability) and re-habilitation and to suggest some directions for further research that might guide rehabilitation counseling prac-tice. Psychiatric disability has been omitted from this sur-vey because it has received separate, extensive treatment in the anthropology literature and presents a unique set of issues (e.g., see Bock, 1999; Kleinman, 1980). This articl