FRAMING RESEARCH ON CULTURE IN PSYCHIATRIC-DIAGNOSIS - THE CASE OF THE DSM-IV

THE fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnosti c and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) (American Psychi atric Association 1994) treats the concept of culture as directly rele vant to the diagnostic task. In contrast, its predecessor, the DSM-III -R, restricted its coverage to two paragraphs of the concept, cautioni ng that when the manual was used with clients from different cultural groups, cultural factors could interfere with diagnosis. I believe tha t the adequacy of the cultural insertions in the DSM-IV should be deba ted but I also believe that the changes will be considered important. The premise of this article is that they are important. The objective is to show that the cultural insertions in DSM-IV can be organized and focused on important issues of research.