Dr Dominique Béhague
Reader in Global Health & Anthropology
Research interests
- Ethics
- Mental Health
- Policy
Contact details
Biography
Dominique Pareja Béhague holds a BA and MA in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College, a PhD in Social Anthropology from McGill University, and an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She was previously at the Department of Anthropology at Brunel University, and held an honorary appointment at the LSHTM, where she worked for eight years before joining King's College London.
Research
Dominique’s research in southern Brazil explores the intersection of psychiatric reform, social movements, and the emergence of "adolescence" as an object of psycho-developmental expertise. She co-designed the longitudinal ethnographic sub-study of the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort with Professor Helen Gonçalves. This cohort, established by Professors Cesar Victora and Fernando Barros of the Federal University of Pelotas, is one of the longest-running cohorts in the world, and one of only a handful that incorporates ethnographic methods. Dominique has also conducted research on sexual and reproductive health and the politics of evidence-based research in global health policy. Her research has received funding from entities such as the US National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, the World Health Organization, the UK Economic and Social Research Council, and The Wellcome Trust.
With more than 50 peer-reviewed articles or book chapters, Dominique writes across multiple disciplines including anthropology, sociology, epidemiology, Brazilian and Latin American Studies, global health, psychiatry, and the mental health survivor-led movement. She has edited or co-edited four special issues on: the anthropology of psychiatry for Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry (2008); the rise of developmental science for Social Science and Medicine (2015); the ‘global psyche’ for Medical Anthropology Quarterly (2020); and theorising ‘the social’ in mental health for Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (2024).
Her research has been featured in various media outlets, including BBC 4, BBC World service, National Public Radio, Mad in America, and for the New England Journal of Medicine Interviews podcast. Two recent invited talks include one on interdisciplinary practice in the Pelotas cohort and a Psychiatry Grand Rounds talk on what Brazilian psychiatry can teach practitioners about taking social and political factors into account in the mental health clinic.
Recently, with Professors Bernardo Horta and Helen Gonçalves, Dominique was awarded a two-year National Science Foundation grant, due to start in September 2024, for continued research in the 1982 Pelotas birth cohort. The project aims to integrate theories from science and technology studies, anthropology, and developmental psychology to build a “critical developmental science”—an interdisciplinary, culturally sensitive, and socially responsible approach to studying human development.
Further details
Research
Culture, Medicine & Power research group
Delving into the interdisciplinary study of social, cultural, political and historical dimensions of health and illness.
Mental Health & Society research group
Seeking to better understand the socio-political dimensions of mental health and illness in the Global North and South.
Mental health, migration and the megacity in São Paulo
Looking at the relationship between mental health and urban transformation since the late nineteenth-century in São Paulo.
Project status: Completed
Reproduction Research Group
Our interdisciplinary group examines the complex social, cultural, and political dimensions of reproduction.
News
Therapy works best when it encourages users to find their own solutions to social challenges
Evidence suggests that for young people, therapy works best when it openly acknowledges the social, political and economic context and encourages them to...
Events
Challenging ‘progress’: from life-course research to the geopolitics of 'development'
A discussion among scholars researching human "development" and those examining social and political "development."
Please note: this event has passed.
Launch event: Theorizing the social in mental health research and action
What does a social perspective on mental health look like? And why does it matter? Join us as we explore these questions at our launch of the special issue...
Please note: this event has passed.
Citizen participation, COVID-19, and democratisation in Brazil
This panel explores the social, political, and health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.
Please note: this event has passed.
Participating, Culture and Humility in Mental Health: Challenges & Opportunities
We are excited to host a public panel entitled “Participating, Culture and Humility in Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities” chaired by Dr Dominique...
Please note: this event has passed.
Research
Culture, Medicine & Power research group
Delving into the interdisciplinary study of social, cultural, political and historical dimensions of health and illness.
Mental Health & Society research group
Seeking to better understand the socio-political dimensions of mental health and illness in the Global North and South.
Mental health, migration and the megacity in São Paulo
Looking at the relationship between mental health and urban transformation since the late nineteenth-century in São Paulo.
Project status: Completed
Reproduction Research Group
Our interdisciplinary group examines the complex social, cultural, and political dimensions of reproduction.
News
Therapy works best when it encourages users to find their own solutions to social challenges
Evidence suggests that for young people, therapy works best when it openly acknowledges the social, political and economic context and encourages them to...
Events
Challenging ‘progress’: from life-course research to the geopolitics of 'development'
A discussion among scholars researching human "development" and those examining social and political "development."
Please note: this event has passed.
Launch event: Theorizing the social in mental health research and action
What does a social perspective on mental health look like? And why does it matter? Join us as we explore these questions at our launch of the special issue...
Please note: this event has passed.
Citizen participation, COVID-19, and democratisation in Brazil
This panel explores the social, political, and health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.
Please note: this event has passed.
Participating, Culture and Humility in Mental Health: Challenges & Opportunities
We are excited to host a public panel entitled “Participating, Culture and Humility in Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities” chaired by Dr Dominique...
Please note: this event has passed.