Migration and Psychopathology of Eskimo Women
JOSEPH D. BLOOM M.D.1
1 Private practice at Langdon Psychiatric Clinic, 3401 E. 42nd Ave., Anchorage, Alaska 99504, and is Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Alaska, Anchorage
Various epidemiological studies have noted the high rate of migration of Eskimo women from their native villages into cities and large rural towns and also their higher rate of psychopathology compared to Eskimo men. The author explores both trends and correlates them, theorizing that the Eskimo woman's dissatisfaction with her low standing in the native culture provides impetus for migration in the hope of marrying a nonnative man. This uprooting, along with unsatisfactory integration into the new culture, may lead to increased psychopathology.
