An Anthropological Hybrid: The Pragmatic Arrangement of Universalism and Culturalism in French Mental Health

Abstract

As in most European countries, the mental health of immigrants in France has recently been the subject of scientific scrutiny. Since the end of World War II voluntary special mental health services for migrants and refugees have been created in France and especially in Paris, but none has been based on epidemiological data. Generally, this lack of objective data gave rise to the assumption that many immigrants might not be getting the type of services they required. The birth of a new type of service (e.g. for migrants, refugees, ethnic groups, trauma and torture victims) was a political reaction to what was, at the time, expressed as an essential unmet need regarding this very specific population. In this article we review, from an anthropological point of view, the different paradigms that have prevailed over the last 50 years.