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Anthropologists contend that the organism-environment connections responsible for human evolution are indirect—mediated by culture. This chapter reviews influential twentieth-century anthropological interpretations of the cultural mediation of human adaptations to environments, arguing that ethnography and other qualitative forms of analysis reveal important phenomena overlooked by quantitative analysts committed to methodological individualism. It highlights work by post-positivist anthropologists, who describe relations among human and non-human organisms, cultural forms, and features of environments as "natural-cultural" networks, an approach reminiscent of developmental systems theory and niche construction. Evolutionary theorists have much to gain by incorporating these sophisticated, contemporary post-positivist anthropological understandings of culture into their models of human-environment connections.

ABSTRACT Anthropologists often disagree about whether, or in what ways, anthropology is "evolutionary." Anthropologists defending accounts of primate or human biological development and evolution that conflict with mainstream "neo‐Darwinian" thinking have sometimes been called "creationists" or have been accused of being "antiscience." As a result, many cultural anthropologists struggle with an "anti‐antievolutionism" dilemma: they are more comfortable opposing the critics of evolutionary biology, broadly conceived, than they are defending mainstream evolutionary views with which they disagree. Evolutionary theory, however, comes in many forms. Relational evolutionary approaches such as Developmental Systems Theory, niche construction, and autopoiesis–natural drift augment mainstream evolutionary thinking in ways that should prove attractive to many anthropologists who wish to affirm evolution but are dissatisfied with current "neo‐Darwinian" hegemony. Relational evolutionary thinking moves evolutionary discussion away from reductionism and sterile nature–nurture debates and promises to enable fresh approaches to a range of problems across the subfields of anthropology. [Keywords: evolutionary anthropology, Developmental Systems Theory, niche construction, autopoeisis, natural drift]

Anthropology -- Culture -- Meaning-making and language -- Worldview and religion -- The dimensions of social organization -- Sex, gender, and sexuality -- Relatedness : kinship, marriage, family, and friendship -- Political anthropology -- Economic anthropology -- Globalization -- The anthropology of science, technology, and medicine -- Theory in cultural anthropology.

What is anthropology? -- Why is evolution important to anthropologists? -- What can the study of primates tell us about human beings? -- What can the fossil record tell us about human origins? -- What can evolutionary theory tell us about human variation? -- How do we know about the human past? -- Why did humans settle down, build cities, and establish states? -- Why is the concept of culture important? -- Why is understanding human language important? -- How do we make meaning? -- Why do anthropologists study economic relations? -- How do anthropologists study political relations? -- What can anthropology teach us about sex, gender, and sexuality? -- Where do our relatives come from and why do they matter? -- What can anthropology tell us about social inequality? -- How is anthropology applied in the field of medicine?

AbstractCo‐occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) negatively impacts employment outcomes for individuals with serious mental health conditions (SMHCs). This study examined how employment might help individuals manage PTSD. Sixty‐eight employed individuals with SMHCs and co‐occurring PTSD responded to two open‐ended questions focused on how work impacted the management of PTSD symptoms and their perceived need for support from a job coach. Findings revealed themes about benefits of work on PTSD symptom management and types of provider support desired. Study implications are discussed.

AbstractEmployment can provide numerous benefits to quality of life, mental health, and social inclusion, which can be particularly important for people with disabilities. In a pilot study, the feasibility of Conversing with Others, a direct skills teaching (DST) group intervention to teach individuals with disabilities a work‐related soft skill focused on conversational skills, was assessed. This mixed methods study delivered the Conversing with Others curriculum in‐person or via telehealth to 119 participants. The intervention was based on the DST method of teaching skills through smaller, digestible, structured lessons. Both modalities showed improvement in participants' perceptions of their conversational skills. A non‐inferiority test indicated that the telehealth and in‐person group interventions were comparable. Overall, the study supported the feasibility of in‐person and telehealth interventions for teaching workplace conversational skills.