ANTHROPOLOGY: What is it?

Linda Nyquist fears that anthropologists are as callous as ever. She writes:

"Thanks to Daryl DeBell for his comments. Perhaps someone can tell me what the current attitudes are in anthropology toward helping those studied. Based on some programs I have watched on the Discovery Channel, I have the distinct feeling that it is much the same as when I studied. Just recently, there was a program on some indigenous people in Peru. One elderly man was suffering from depression, and perhaps had a mental health diagnosis. The anthropologists documented this. No apparent effort was made to get him any help. He had a large family of grown children, who were very concerned about him. They, the children and anthropologists, watched him decline over the months, in terms of his struggle emotionally. When the anthropologists returned the following year, the man had gone to the mountains and hurled himself to his death, leaving behind what little he had for his children. ,p>It was heartbreaking, to say the least. Had I been one of the researchers, knowing that some care is available in Lima, and that many medications are quite cheap in Latin America, I would never sleep another night. While I am not a religious person (remember, I am a socialist), I would absolutely know that I would go straight to hell for such behavior. The nuns of my youth would be gratified to see that their lessons stuck!"

Ronald Hilton - 8/31/00