Scheper-Hughes' first book, Saints, Scholars and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland (1979), was a study of madness among bachelor farmers, and won the Margaret Mead Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology in 1980. The book established Scheper-Hughes’ ability to provoke controversy through her writing.
Scheper-Hughes' inaugural publication, Saints, Scholars and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland (1979), was a study of insanity among solitary farmers, and won the Margaret Mead Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology in 1980. The book demonstrated Scheper-Hughes’ capacity to stir heated debate through her writing.