The Cross-Cultural Application of Analytical Psychology: A Consideration of the Research of M. Vera Bührmann

Abstract

M. Vera Bührmann has played an influential role in the development of cross-cultural psychiatry in South Africa. The Jungian paradigm on which she bases her work, however, has a racist element which cannot and should not be ignored in the South African context. Bührmann's own interpretation of Jung is not as overtly evolutionist as some of Jung's own writings. Methodological issues pertinent to her work include her use of a subjective perspective, the representativeness of her respondents and her assumptions about their views, and her relative neglect of sociopolitical and economic issues. Bührmann makes an important contribution to local work, but one which has the significant limitation of an essentialist view of culture.