Key concepts - Culture

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What is Culture?

Social sciences usually start with Bates and Plog's definition of culture in Cultural Anthropology:

The system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.

Culture tends to be used to describe groups "different from us", but the truth is that we all have cultural traits and behaviors unique to a group that we call "our own".· It could be one's country, but it also could be more localized.· Culture tends to be more invisible when we stay within our own groups, and becomes more visible when we interact with diverse groups.· Travelling is a great way to uncover your own culture and beliefs about the world.

• Communication:  Loud or soft voice?  Meaning and extend of eye contact? 
• Interaction with others:· Acceptance to interact with strangers?· Personal space? Acceptable behavior in line-ups?  Acceptable approaches to conflict? 
• Personal appearance:  Acceptable business or casual dress? 

The visible aspects of culture are more easily noted, but the internal beliefs and values about the world are most often factors that lead to conflict. 

• Roles in society:  Role of men, women, children, older people?  Behavior in response to those who live outside the prescribed roles? 
• Spirituality:  Extent of effect in daily life?  Amount of struture high or low? 
• Relationships:  Acceptable age to date and marry?  Level of structure in marriage ceremony?  Beliefs about marriage and divorce? 

Unfortunately, internal beliefs and values are also that which can cause the most conflict. Cultural differences can catch us off-guard, partly because we assume our belief or value is the only belief or value. Conflict is likely when one attempts to describe "the other' culture through one's own frame:

"So we need to be careful we don't assume that the only body of knowledge comes through science such as medical science and that it is the only way of understanding the world. Remember my great mentors Professor Wittcower and Raymond Prince when they went to the darkest places in Africa looking for strange and exotic syndromes then interpreted them all according to the psychiatric wisdom of the day - there is some danger in that.  The other thing to remember of course is that many scientists go to church on Sunday. It is possible to hold more than one body of knowledge concurrently and not to feel any conflict - so many of us who are scientists also subscribe to indigenous knowledge and don't necessarily see a conflict. The conflict comes only when you try and explain one through the tools of the other."  (Sir Mason Durie, 2003).

What is my spirituality may be your DSM-IV diagnosis. 

The Elder's Box

The elder thrust forward what appeared to be an empty box.  The elder asked, "How many sides do you see?" "One," I said.

He pulled the box towards his chest and turned it so one corner faced me. "Now how many do you see?"  "Now I see three sides." 

He stepped back and extended the box, one corner towards him and one towards me. "You and I together can see six sides of this box"

(Hampton, 1995, p. 42 in Towards a redefinition of Indian education).