The present article offers an overview discussion of ethnocultural aspects of PTSD, with special attention to major conceptual issues, clinical considerations, and therapy practices. The historical circumstances leading to the widespread acceptance of PTSD among conventional mental health professionals, and the subsequent criticisms that emerged from scholars, humanitarian workers, and ethnocultural minorities are presented as an important background to the current controversial status of the concept, especially with regard to arguments regarding the ethnocultural determinants of PTSD.

The literature tends to use ‘asylum seeker’ and ‘refugee’ interchangeably, creating uncertainty about the mental health of asylum seekers. However, asylum seekers occupy a unique position in British society which differentiates them from people with refugee status and which may have implications for their mental health. For example, ‘asylum seekers’ are supported and accommodated in dispersal areas under the National Asylum Support Service and they are not entitled to work.

This book addresses the source of societal tensions and violent conflict in contemporary Europe, involving people from minority groups of Muslim culture. Six country case studies – on Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia and the United Kingdom – give a comprehensive account of Islam-related tensions and violence, from the jihadist terrorist acts seen in Europe in the aftermath of 9/11 in the US, through to the urban riots of the type seen in France in 2005. These events are analysed with a common typology together with detailed accounts of the social context in each country.

Abstract