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.