Ethnography and the role of culture in mental healthcare

SUMMARY This article responds to Wells & Giacco’s discussion of the theoretical frameworks that guide qualitative research. In addition to the methods they explore, I describe ethnography, focusing on the anthropological investigation of culture. I use examples from the research literature to highlight the unique values of ethnography. I describe what ethnography entails, before outlining illustrations of how ethnographic research has contributed to psychiatric clinical practice. Although it is difficult to generalise from the findings of ethnographic research, its focus on how social processes work and how people perceive them in a particular context makes it useful for advancing improvements in clinical care.