Health across Cultures

Health can vary greatly across cultures. One obvious way that health may differ is because all cultures are exposed to different environmental factors. Some cultures may be exposed to one illness, while another may not be exposed to it at all because they are not in the environment that causes it. Although, this is changing because of the world becoming a smaller global community, with the increases of technology we can travel more, and are thus able to be in contact with disease factors that we other-wise would not have been exposed to if we did not travel there.  Another interesting aspect of health among cultures is that some ethnic groups may be more susceptible to certain illness’ compared to others, as a pre-determined biological factor. For instance, in one of my courses at university I have learned that Native Americans have a predisposition/are more susceptible to diabetes. Thirdly, another interesting concept to health across cultures is how cultures may define health. Or, how does any one person define it. Maybe health means happiness. Or maybe health means free of disease. Maybe in one culture a person who has a disease but is spiritually happy may claim that they are in good health because they are spiritually healthy and happy. Health can vary across cultures in the way that treatments are done. In western societies hospitals, doctors, medicines, drugs, surgeries are all common ways to interact with disease. Other cultures may rely on natural herbs only. Or other cultures may not believe that you should do anything or alter anyone’s health. Some cultures may believe in blood transfusions, while others may not. Some culture may see large bodies as a sign of healthiness, while other may see it as a sign of obesity. What is the common thing seen here? That culture determines what is said to be healthy, what health means, how health is coped with, how it is treated. Culture is the defining aspect of how health develops across cultures. 

Gender across Cultures

When we are born we are either biologically a male or female. But what exactly does that mean? Are there certain characteristics, behaviors or attitudes that males should hold up, or certain ones that females should hold up. What determines these characteristics? Culture. It is culture that helps to define what is masculine or feminine, and different cultures may have different ideas of what fits into each category. For example, a culture that lives in harsh environments and depends on hunting may define a masculine trait that is strength, while another culture may not need to depend on strength for survival so the characteristic of strength is not as highly valued to be masculine.  There are also different gender roles across the labour force. Traditional gender role differences began to emerge in the families centuries ago. The notable gender roles include that women were expected to take care of household duties, child rearing and providing a nurturing house. This differs from men, who were expected to join the labour force and provide to the family financially. In the early 20th century it was not of the "norm" for mothers to go out and work, while the men stayed home and cared for the children and house. Thus, began the birth of traditional gender roles. This is what culture created it to be. It’s not what HAS to be done. There are not biological laws that make it impossible for men to care for children or women to work, it’s just what culture has created in the western societies. This point is being made clear now in the present days where the opposite is happening and women are working more and men are caring for the family more. Gender roles are becoming more fluid, because cultures are changing and accepting this new fluidity of gender roles, at least in the western societies that I have witnessed. 

Socialization

I will start this blog off with a little anecdote. The other day my friend told me a story about one time when she went to Peru that in the community she was at they had speakers around the town and a leader or a government official, whatever you want to call it, would make announcements over the speaker system that was around the town. Members of the community were to stop what they were doing and attend to the messages and respond accordingly. She described it as bizarre and felt like she was in the movie “The Hunger Games” if you had ever seen that movie you’ll know what I’m talking about. This got me thinking, and sparked a thought in my mind that related back to my human development course on the topic of socialization. Why was this community acting this way? Was it really bizarre, or was it just foreign to her? Next, we move to development across cultures to explain this. From the moment we are born we begin to interact with other human beings. The first months of our lives we may only interact with a select few people, but as we grow our circle of peers also grows creating the need for a better understanding of social interaction, moral development and justice. As we begin to interact with others we can go one of either way, as Kohlberg’s Theory suggests. We can interact positively with people, or negatively. Our actions can be positive in a way that benefits others, we could be sharing, or doing other actions that benefit the other person. Or, our actions can be negative in that they do not benefit the other person, for example, we could be aggressive, or rude to the person. So what then determines how we respond to people, how we interact and socialize? Well our cultural dimensions play a key role here. Depending what cultural dimension a person belongs to, for example, either individualistic or collectivist cultures this can effect what characteristics are emphasized in socialization. In an individualist community characteristics such as competition, individual achievement might be more prominent, while in a collectivist community cooperation and harmony are more prominent. So, to answer the question mentioned at the start of this blog, was that community acting weird for have a PA system among the community. Probably not. They could have been a collectivist community where equality was important so they depended on each other, worked together as a whole community, thus having a public speaker system to achieve goals together. 

The Self across Cultures

What is the self? The self is a concept that we believe of ourselves. It is how we as a person behave, our personality, our unique characteristics, our actions, why we do what we do, etc. It is how we identify with ourselves. How does this unique concept develop differently among people? Why are some people different from others? One context of the self is the innate, or the pre-determined temperament that we are born with. We are all born with some pre-determined personality. For example, you probably have noticed that not all newborns are the same. I have personally experienced this where my nephew as a newborn would cry and be agitated much more then my niece, who was calm and slept a lot. These are just innate characteristics. Although we are born with some aspect of a temperament or personality there are also cultural factors that come into play. Culture molds us into unique individuals and plays a huge role on how we act, behave and respond. Some cultures may be individualist or collectivists and this in turn plays a role on whether a person is said to be independent or interdependent, a trait that is said to be of the self. Those who are interdependent have a lot of flexibility in their characteristics and can change according to who they are interacting with. The relationship with others (one who is interdependent) is a big characteristic of their life, therefore they depend a lot on the relationships of others so they can adapt and accommodate themselves. For example, someone who identifies themselves as an independent person does not really depend on the relationships of others so there is no need to change their personalities. They remain the same person when interacting with different people. An interdependent person on the other hand does depend on relationships, therefore they will change their personality if they were interacting with say their mom, then their friend, then a leader, or their child. Since independence and interdependence are highly related to individualistic and collectivist cultures it can then be said that culture does impact ‘the self’, it is not just an inborn trait that is pre-determined for us. 

Communications across Cultures

Communication Across Cultures

One thing that is obviously different across cultures is language. Language is symbolic way of communicating to share you ideas, which is extremely important for the whole concept of culture in and of itself. Some cultures may have complex language system while some may have a simpler one. For example, as learned in my Cognitive Psychology class in english language we have over hundreds of different words for the different colors of the world. For example we have the words blue, red, yellow, green, purple, black, brown, indigo, white, grey, silver, and all the different shades in between. While we have many words for all the possible colors out there, the people of New Guinea only have two words for the different colors. The two words are "Mola" and "Mili". These two words take the place of our hundreds of words by simply grouping the colors together by characteristics. "Mola" means bright, and "Mili" means dark & cool. So, while they do not have words for red, blue or yellow, they can describe these colors and communicate about them with the term "Mola". Although there are many different languages out there and all  following their own grammatical structure with different meanings, they all follow the same sole purpose, and that is to communicate ideas and transfer culture among people. Without language there would be no culture!

The Influences of Culture

I have a niece and nephew who are now 9 and 8 years old, so for the past few years I ave been seeing lots of different changes among themselves as they grow and enter their teenage years. Their personalities are changing so much! Its interesting to watch the whole process and think about how they become who they are. Although a lot of it seems to be how they are raised by their parents, their personalities and their interests defiantly are inspired by the media they see around them, what their peers are doing, which is ultimately what their culture brings to them. Our culture is heavily influenced by media. For example, my niece wanted this very particular toy, and she HAD to have it. She started collecting things that were all revolved around this idea, you may have heard of it, the famous Grumpy Cat. She wanted a shirt,a teddy,a calendar, I found her googling images of it, she was simply obsessed with it, and at 9 years old too! I asked her where she heard of this "Grumpy Cat" and she said she seen it on TV and that her friends are always talking about it. Her culture, and the environment that she is surrounded by (in this case the media and her peers) influenced her to become obsessed with this cat icon. This is just an small example to show that ones culture can help influences and create ones identity. For example, hypothetically there could be too people that are sisters and both being raised by the same parents and living under the same roof, yet they grow up to be complete polar opposites.  What could cause this may be the specific culture that these sisters belong to. For instance one sister might hang out with people who are into drugs and take part in rebellious acts, while the second sister may hang out with people who are all about horseback riding and farm animals. The environments that these sisters belong too are completely different and what they are interacting with is influencing their personalities. Although this example show how culture on micro level can impact your beliefs, it is synominous at a macro level, meaning that in the big picture culture can impact you. For example, at a macro level the culture you belong to may suggest that killing is wrong, thus you believe that killing is wrong and do not take part in that behaviour. Culture is constantly shaping us! 

Growing Old

Two weeks ago my brother and his wife gave birth to a baby girl, and my parents became grandparents for the 4th time. During that week I saw a lot of spoiling to their grandkids with giving them gifts, candies, and toys. My parents are so easy going with them and there is a lot of things that the grandkids can get away with(lets just say stuff they would never be able to do if their parents were around) This is what it means to them to be a grandparent, and most likely how I will treat my future grandkids. This idea of being a grandparent can change between cultures. In some cultures it may mean being more obedient to the grandkids, as compared to the way they were with their own children. Gardiner, in Lives Across Cultures, illustrates that as one becomes a grandparent in Japan they are to be treated with honour and repeated, even to the point where they wear the color red to show their 'status of honor' as being a grandparent. When I was home the other weekend I was visiting my grandmother at a elder residence where she lives. It got me thinking of how this idea of senior homes came to be and how different cultures have different ideas and beliefs of how to care for the elder. Growing up, because I have been exposed to it and it became apart of my belief system it seems natural to admit a grandparent into a home. However, some people may take offence to that and think that my family isn’t caring my grandmother, or that it seems disrespectful. Again, as Gardiner illustrates in Japan the elder are to be cared for directly from their children, often the oldest married son. Although, it is mentioned that this trend is changing among the Japenese culture as more elders are being placed in facilities to be cared for by care takers. For a Japenese elder to be admitted into a nursing home they must meet certain criteria: have no living children near by, not be bed ridden, be willing to enter the home, and obtain local welfare. The difference seen by the Japenese and my Canadian culture on the care of elder can be explained by the Japanese being a more collectivist culture, while Canada seems to be more individualistic. Culture is constantly changing however, and as mentioned before that the oldest son to care for the parents trend is slowly changing, this suggests that the Japanese culture may be moving away from a collectivist culture. It's interesting to think of how much things can change and what will become of the next 50 years. 

Importance of Culture to Human Development

It is easily understood that the development of a child occurs due to biological factors. A persons genetic makeup results in how that person will development, for example, how tall they will be, their eye color, or even their personality and cognitive abilities. However, it is not just biological factors that determine a person’s overall development. For instance, research has shown that the brain is very plastic, meaning it can change, alter and rewire its networks in according to one’s unique experience. Culture can shape an individual’s thoughts and our brains can alter because of this. The mind is shaped by content and context. An example illustrated by Gardiner is that schizophrenia, a psychological disorder, can be seen in multiple cultures, but there is variability among cultures of that particular disorder. Therefore, something that seems to be biological such as the disorder of schizophrenia can be highly influenced by cultural factors. Everyone has their own unique experience which in part is influenced by culture, thus the development of the child is due to both biological forces and cultural realities.The study of human development has practical applications such as it can help us in the health field by having a better understanding of human’s behaviors, biological terms or even social aspects, or it can be important for history and evolution, or just for general knowledge. Basically, the need to study human development is extremely important and can provide foundations for many other fields out there. However, it is important to take a cultural approach to study human development. A cultural approach allows for people to deal with and understand the differences or similarities that are seen across people. Culture creates variability among people, thus we cannot generalize any theories of human development if we do not have the support to say that these theories are indeed universal. To support that a theory is universal or specific to one culture human development must take on a cultural approach. If we want to understand why some people are different from others we must look into the cultural influences that are acting upon individuals. If it were just all biological factors that is, pre-determined genetic makeup that determines a person develop then there would easily be universal theories, however that is not the case. Cultural and biological forces are interconnected and both play a tremendous role on human development. 

Moral Resoning

 Over the past week or so we have been hearing about the Charlie Hebdo cartoon incident where a satirical magazine illustrated the prophet Muhammad, which in Muslim religion it is strictly against their faith to depict their prophet. This resulted in attacks on the creators of Charlie Hebdo ending in many deaths and injuries. This news brings up one concept that is of interest to me, and that is moral reasoning. When do we think something is right or wrong, and how do we learn that? For the controversy mentioned above there is no correct answer at this moment over freedom of speech and what lines should be drawn and when. Why did Charlie Hebdo think it was okay for them to disrespect a religion practiced among thousands of people. Or why did some people think that killing the creators was acceptable? Kohlberg’s theory of moral development suggest that there are 3 stages of moral development: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. In the pre-conventional stage (suggested to be those of 9 years or younger) will obey rules to avoid punishment or receive rewards. In the conventional stage (suggested to be most adolescents and adults) will obey rules to avoid disapproval and maintain social order. In the post-conventional stage (suggested to be those of minority) will follow laws for the welfare of the larger community, or believe in and follow self-chosen universal ethical principles. Although there were some limitations to Kohlberg’s theory because it was based on western cultures it can somewhat depict the moral reasoning in the Charlie Hebdo controversy. Those of Islamic culture may feel threatened when Charlie Hebdo disrespected their faith thus leading them to feel in the minority. Perhaps, in order to protect their faith of their larger community, the Muslim faith, they felt as though it was necessary for the French to serve justice. To them maybe death was the ultimate justice they thought was needed. Note the emphasis on 'thought'. The answer may lie in psychological processing. Different cultures offer different experiences which ultimately shape the way each person thinks and views the world. This creates the differences we see among people on whether they view a situation as right or wrong.

Cultural Comfort

I am from a very small town that neighbors a reservation community of Mi’kmaq First Nations. Although I may not have grown up in a large multicultural setting like the big city of Toronto, living next to the First Nations community I often found myself interacting with its members and developed some understanding of their traditions. From a young age I was exposed to a different culture and able to first hand witness its influences, unlike some other children in other rural settings. The elementary school I went to would sometimes hold mini powwows where there was dancing, singing, drumming and socializing among the elders and the chiefs of the community. That was my first experience with a different cultures ritual and because of this I was able to appreciate the differences held among cultures at a young age. I believe it did give me some level of comfort, but I personally believe it was because I was exposed to it early on. As mentioned in a previous blog when my friends traveled to Peru they did not expect some of the things they did. That’s just the thing, we already have certain expectations that we learned from our own culture (For example, my expectation was that the guinea pig was meant for a pet, while the Peruvians viewed it as food). Described there is ethnocentrism; the belief that your own culture’s norms, values, practices, etc, are the correct ways, while other culture’s way are unnatural. Every person has their own experiences and it is those experiences that will shape and create the variability in psychological processing. Another thing that I believe that has given me some level of comfort with other cultures is education. Being educated on the fact that there are other cultures out there and that there is not one right culture and we all have our own values, beliefs and ideal has diminished my ethnocentrism.  But don’t get me wrong, if I was to travel to a new country right now that I have had no exposure to and that practiced very different traditions then I do, I would still feel the ‘culture shock’. My psychological processes are just different from other individuals so it would feel somewhat odd or unfamiliar to me. I believe, for me personally, that the more you are exposed to other cultures and the more education you have about cultural differences will impact my experience.  

Supper Time!

This past summer two of my friends took a trip to Peru where they spent 6 weeks living with native Peruvians. Once I was reunited with them I heard enough stories that could fill an entire book! One particular story that sticks out to me was their experience with culture shock. One of their first nights in the Peruvian sacred valley of Maska they were introduced to a farm of guinea pigs. Before they knew it an elder of the village picked up a guinea pig and quickly snapped the neck of the animal (method which caused the least amount of pain for the animal), skinned the rodent and began to cook it over an open fire. Soon my friends found themselves eating guinea pig for supper, or what is known as ‘cuy’ to the locals. What particularly stood out was the way that they described the Peruvians emotion—the locals were so ecstatic to share their guinea pig food and felt proud serving it. What I think of as a simple house pet, the Peruvians thought of as a sacred meal, one of their finest meats to offer to the girls. This story is an example of how culture can shape what your food preferences are. My particular culture has shaped my own preferences of food, where for meats, I tend to eat primarily beef, poultry and fish. Another point that I take from this story is how highly the Peru natives thought of meat, it was very valuable to them. Certain cultures may find different things valuable while others may not share that same feeling; it all depends on the culture that you are brought up in, and how your attitudes become influenced through traditions and beliefs shared among your culture. 

Welcome Blog

Welcome to my blog! I will start off by introducing myself as a student who is enrolled in Human Development across Cultures; a Psychology course offered at St. FX University. Throughout this blog I will discuss how culture has shaped me as a person and how culture affects the development of other individuals. One example that I can think of where culture shapes my development as a person is the traditions that are held around ones death. Recently I had a conversation with a friend who is form a different province than myself and they had said that they never experienced a wake. In my culture when a person passes away the tradition is to have a wake as well as funeral. This process has shaped the way that I grieve when losing a loved one, making it more of a community enriched process. The experience of having the community come out to express their sympathy at wakes and having a funeral allows for closure for myself. After having that conversation with my friend it got me thinking that the traditions or the way a culture responds to the death of a person is going to impact the way people will grieve. For example, those in Madagascar celebrate a ritual Called Famadihana, or "Turning of the Bones”. After the death of loved one they dig up the remains of their relatives and rewrap them in fresh cloth then dance with the corpses around the tomb to live music. Other emotional factors that my culture influences is how it is okay for me to express my emotions publically. It is okay for me to be upset in front of other people, because that is what my culture has taught me. On the other hand, some cultures may not express their emotional states. These are just a couple of examples of how culture can impact human development, and for this case it impacts emotional processing.