Socio-Cultural Research Program

Overview

This program is concerned with strengthening the theoretical and empirical base for mental health services research by including approaches that derive from sociology, anthropology, and the behavioral sciences in general. The program supports research relating to issues of culture, social systems, and social networks as they relate to help seeking, use, and provision of services, effectiveness, quality, and outcomes of services.

Areas of Emphasis

• Test theoretical perspectives from the social and behavioral sciences in all aspects of services research, with special focus on the role of culture.
• Examinations of how cultural explanations for disorder affect receptivity and response to treatment, particularly when patient/client and family explanations differ from those of the mental health clinicians.
• The influence of culture and socioeconomic status on the decision-making strategies used by patient/clients, their families, and clinicians and whether potential differences in these approaches increase the risk of distrust, confusion, noncompliance, and/or treatment dropout.
• The development and incorporation of a better understanding of the dimensions of social and cultural context that have an impact on care and outcomes.

Contact

Denise Juliano-Bult, M.S.W.
Program Chief
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7137, MSC 9631
301-443-1638, djuliano@mail.nih.gov