Research
Professor Rahimi's main research interest has been the relationship between culture, identity and mental health, a line of inquiry which has gradually evolved into his current work on political subjectivity, psychosis and meaning. He has studied cultural and social features of identity and selfhood, including cross-cultural research on social and psychological aspects of collective identity, collective self-esteem, and racism. He has conducted research with Cambodian, French Quebecois and Caribbean populations in Quebec, as well as with psychotic patients in Istanbul, Turkey and in Boston, USA. His latest research includes projects on socio-political dimensions of health and healthcare services in the United States; a comparative study of the cultural and political determinants of subjective experience of psychosis among Middle Eastern and North American individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia; and an examination of the cultural dimensions of change in modern Turkish political discourse. His current research project concerns political change and interaction of affect, power and subjectivity in post-revolutionary Iran. Upcoming projects include a study of cultural and structural determinants of stigmatization against psychotic patients in Canada and the implications for policy and anti-stigma campaign development.
Publications
Subjects in History: Meaning, Madness, and Political Selves in Modern Turkey. Book manuscript, (upcoming).
Psychiatry in a Flat World. In M. DelVecchio Good et. al (Ed.), Shattering Culture: American Medicine Responds to Cultural Diversity. New York: Russell Sage Foundation (2011).
Schizophrenia in Turkey: A Meaning-Centered Study of Psychosis, Culture and Subjectivity. Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University (2007).
Psychosocial Correlates of Collective Self-esteem: A Comparative Study. Master of Science Thesis, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University (2000).
Collective Self-Esteem and Construal of Racism Among Minority Group Members: An Experimental Research Study. Bachelor of Arts (Honors) Thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan (1997).
Handbook of Cultural Consultation Service. Cultural Consultation Service Unit, Jewish General Hospital / McGill University. Joint Authorship, Cultural Consultation Team (2000).
IMPET: A Manual for Immigrant Parent Effectiveness Training. Teaching Manual for Immigrant Parent Effectiveness and Conflict
Resolution course. Saskatoon Open Door Society (1996).
Articles:
The Significance of Metaphors of Seeing and Vision in Accounts of the Uncanny. Invited paper for special issue of Ethos. In Press.
Internet Based Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Question of Virtual Subjectivity. Theory, Culture & Society. In review.
Collective Self-Esteem and Perception of Racism among Cambodian Immigrants and
French Quebecois. (Second author: Cécile Rousseau) Canadian Ethnic Studies. In review.
Intimate Exteriority: Sufi Space as Sanctuary for Injured Subjectivities in Turkey. Journal of Religion and Health. (Volume 46, no. 3, September 2007; pp. 409-422).
Subjects at/as Crossroads: on the Convergence of Politics, Madness and Identity in Turkey. International Journal of Emergence (Issue 3, no. 2, Fall 2005).
Collective Self-Esteem and Construal of Racism (Second author: Ron Fisher) Transcultural
Psychiatry, (Volume 39, no. 4, Winter 2002; pp. 501-515).
Is Cultural Logic an Appropriate Concept? A semiotics perspective on the study of
culture and logic. Sign Systems Studies, (Volume 30, no. 2, Winter 2002; pp. 455-467).
Sufism and Psychology: A Comparative Glance. Nouveau Dialogue (Vol. 142, Winter 2002; pp. 22-26.)
The complexity of Trauma Response: a 4-year Rollow-up of Adolescent Cambodian Refugees
(First author: Cécile Rousseau) Child Abuse & Neglect, (Volume 27, no. 11, November 2000; pp. 1277-1290.
Identities without a Reference: Towards a Theory of Posthuman Identity. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture (Online peer-reviewed journal: Volume 3, no. 3, June 2000).
Collective Delusions of the Iranian Mind. Sanjesh: A Journal of Literary Criticism and Book Reviews (Volume 3, Winter 1999; pp. 50-58. Hamburg, Germany)
The Montreal Children’s Hospital’s Transcultural Child Psychiatry Clinic: A Unique Clientele and Diversity of Clinical Interventions. Culture and Mental Health Research Unit, Jewish General Hospital. Joint authorship with Transcultural Child Psychiatry Team.
Evaluation of the Australian Transcultural Mental Health Network Internet Web Site.
Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University. (1998, First author: L. J. Kirmayer)
