Curanderismo: An Emic Theoretical Perspective of Mexican-American Folk Medicine

In this article curanderismo, Mexican-American folk medicine, is treated as a systematic body of healing theories rather than a mass cultural phenomenon. Using professional healers as informants for a period of over four years, the authors define and describe curanderismo from the emic theoretical perspective, not only providing explanations for the ties between the “Mexican Folk Illnesses” previously reported in the literature, but also showing the evolution and future of curanderismo as a holistic health care system.