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Cited by 17Historical Psychiatry and Medical PracticesIndigenous Health, Education, and RightsMental Health Treatment and Access

Nemesis, Speaking, and Tauhi Vaha'a: Interdisciplinarity and the Truth of "Mental Illness" in Vava'u, Tonga

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Poltorak, Michael·2007·The Contemporary Pacific
DOI 10.1353/cp.2007.0031
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Abstract

The people of Vava'u, Tonga, manage to deal with most incidences of "mental illness" without resorting to institutionalization or overt stigmatization. The terms used to describe unusual behavior, though pejorative in the eyes of psychiatrist Dr Mapa Puloka, are contestable and negotiable. Through the creative use of a multiplicity of explanations, people have influence over the potential stigma to suffering relatives. People's sensitivity to attributions of "mental illness" is born of Vavauan use of language to tauhi vaha'a (evoke and intensify relatedness). This socially constitutive use of language contrasts with the referential language in much of the social science and medical literature that informs mental health policy. Revealing its origin in the experience of vä (relatedness) is key to creating an interdisciplinary space to discuss the late presentation of Tongans to mental health services in Tonga and New Zealand. This paper answers the widely recognized need for more qualitative, epistemologically sensitive, and interdisciplinary work on Tongan experience of mental illness through focusing on the particular case of an eccentric in Vava'u known as 'Ahiohio. As this man shares remarkable similarities with Manu (Epeli Hau'ofa's subversive mouthpiece of anti-absolutism), the responses to and theories of 'Ahiohio's behavior enable discussion on the contrast and effects of Vavauan and, more broadly, medical and positivist ideas of truth.

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  • Tēvolo as cause of sickness is accepted partly because it is a more socially acceptable and less stigmatising explanation than sickness as divine punishment for past wrongdoing.

    “In most cases, though, tēvolo as cause of sickness is accepted partly because it is a more socially acceptable and less stigmatising explanation than sickness as divine punishment for past wrongdoing (Poltorak 2007).”

    From ‘Traditional’ Healers, Speaking and Motivation in Vava'u, Tonga: Explaining Syncretism and Addressing Health Policy (2010) · cites this paper as Poltorak 2007

    In “Tēvolo and Mental Illness” (page unavailable), the paper says tēvolo attribution places agency outside the affected person and that treatment removes stigma associated with less favourable explanations. “Stigma: Negotiability, Contestability, and Temporality” describes punishment for past wrongdoing as particularly stigmatizing. These passages support the comparison, but do not establish that tēvolo is accepted for this reason “in most cases.” (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Dr Mapa Puloka's collaboration demonstrated the wide spectrum of healers was associated with a wide spectrum of treatment from beneficial to outright dangerous.

    “Resisting a blanket stereotyping, Dr Puloka's collaboration demonstrated the wide spectrum of healers was associated with a wide spectrum of treatment from beneficial to outright dangerous.”

    From ‘Traditional’ Healers, Speaking and Motivation in Vava'u, Tonga: Explaining Syncretism and Addressing Health Policy (2010) · cites this paper as Poltorak 2007

    The “Mental Illness and Interdisciplinarity” section says Dr Puloka sought a model for mental-health services and identifies traditional healers’ treatment efficacy as something to investigate. Our copy does not report a collaboration by Puloka demonstrating that healers’ treatments ranged from beneficial to dangerous (searched: collaboration, beneficial treatment, dangerous treatments). (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Cites

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4 of the 58 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. Anae, Melani 1997 Preliminary Findings on the Mental Health of Pacific Islands People in New Zealand from a Literature Review Undertaken by way of hrc Seeding Grant. Auckland: University of Auckland.
  2. Churchward, C Maxwell 1959 Tongan Dictionary. Tonga: Government Printing Press.
  3. Duranti, Alessandro 1997a Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge, uk: Cambridge University Press. 1997b Indexical Speech across Samoan Communities. American Anthropolo- gist 99:342-354.
  4. Durie, Mason 1994 Whaiora: Maori Health Development. Auckland: Oxford University Press.
  5. Jilek, W G [Wolfgang George] 1988 Mental Health, Ethnopsychiatry and Traditional Medicine in the King- dom of Tonga. Curare Journal for Ethnomedicine and Transcultural Psychiatry 11:161-176.
  6. Lilomaiava-Doktor, Sa'iliemanu 2004 Fa'a-Samoa and Population Movement from the Inside Out: The Case of Salelologa. Geography PhD thesis, University of Hawai'i.
  7. Mausio, Asinate 2003 Fiji. Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2002. The Contempo- rary Pacific 15:440-447.
  8. Poltorak, Michael 2002 Aspersions of Agency: Ghosts, Love and Sickness in Tonga. Anthro- pology PhD thesis, University College London.
  9. Woolard, Kathryn A, and Bambi B Schieffelin 1994 Language Ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology 23:55-82.

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Authors
Poltorak, M.
Corresponding author
Poltorak, Michael
Venue
The Contemporary Pacific
Publisher
Project MUSE
Published
2007-03
Volume
19
Issue
1
Pages
1-35
ISSN
  • 1043-898X (ISSN-L)
  • 1527-9464
DOI
10.1353/cp.2007.0031
OpenAlex
W1992293459
Cited by
17
References
58
Citations by year
2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4
FWCI
1.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Contemporary Pacific/The contemporary Pacific (Online) (publishedVersion)
  • Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion)
  • ScholarSpace (University of Hawaii at Manoa) (submittedVersion)
  • Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion)
  • Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices
  • Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
mental illness, stigma, relatedness, Vava'u, Tongan language, epistemology, truth, interdisciplinary research, mental health services, eccentricity, Epeli Hau'ofa, manus, positivism, social construction of illness

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