Dominant Culture Research Paper

The classic definition for culture was proposed by Tylor (1871/1958) and still commonly cited: Culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and many other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (p. 1). This definition focuses on attributes that are acquired through growing up or living in a particular society, rather than through biological inheritance (Kottak, 2002). In Giger and Davidhizar’s (1991) Model for transcultural care, culture was defined as a patterned behavioral response that develops over time as a result of imprinting the mind through social and religious structures and intellectual and artistic manifestations.

Before describing the dominant culture in the United States, we first need to know what culture is and what a dominant culture is. Culture is the life style people choose. This includes language, religion, values and norms that a group of people accept without thinking about it. Now that we know what culture is, what is a dominant culture? The dominant culture in a society is the established language, religion, behaviour and norms that are proper to a certain culture. This is the dominant culture. Most often, dominant culture is the most powerful culture in a country and has the most powerful people or the most people associated to the culture.

Culture plays a paramount role in our lives. “It is what shapes who we are and how we view the world” (Thorp & Sanchez, 1998,

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

Since the inception of human civilization there have been countless cultures and societies which have helped shape the current world today as we know it. The modern human race dates back more than 200,000 years and in that time frame many cultures have risen to great virtue and success only to deteriorate or cease to exist altogether. First before examining one of these cultures we must know what culture truly means. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Culture Center defines culture as a “dynamic social system,” containing the beliefs, behaviors, values and norms of a “specific organization, group, society or other collectivity” learned, shared, internalized, and changeable by all members of the society (Watson, 2010). In

A culture typically portrays the character traits or identity of a particular group of people. Each culture has diverse ideologies and perceptions; therefore, every group is different. On a large scale, these ideas merge together and give shape to cultural norms, which in turn form the foundation of reality. In "The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan," Ethan Watters explores the relationship between cultural norms and actuality. The article talks about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on the paradigm shift in Japan's psychiatry. Watters explains, "The objective was to influence, at the most fundamental level, the Japanese understanding of sadness and depression" (516). In other words, Pharmaceutical companies attempted to alter

Culture is an intermingling mesh of traits that, although unique to each person, brings groups of people together. It is comprised of numerous different aspects that are passed down through generations, including religion, food, clothing, language, music, morals, and greetings. Because of its extensive range, it is easy to see how much culture impacts a person’s life. One’s culture vastly affects how he or she views the world due to ingrained traditions, stereotypes, and values within his or her heritage.

can not be ignored simply because it is in the past, as it is still

I’m going to use my current employer to help me describe my understanding of the contrast between a dominant culture and the subcultures found within the same organization. I work for a Catholic based health care system that is operating hospitals, medical offices, and many stand alone health care facilities like urgent care offices. It doesn’t matter what department you are hired into, we all go through the same orientation and make a commitment to abide by the organization’s mission and values. The mission and values of our organization provide the direction our leadership expects to see in our daily activities at work. Our organizational mission statement is “Through our exceptional health care services, we reveal the healing presence of God” (SSM Health, 2016).

Culture is defined as “The ideas, attitudes, customs, beliefs, values and social behaviour of a particular group of people or society that are passed on from generation to generation” (Brentnall, A., n.d.).

In today’s society, an individual who is a member of the dominant privileged societal assembly is not always discussed because the personal identity is taken as a guarantee due to the dominant culture. Nevertheless, culture affects the members of society because of the association with the dominant culture we become a different category consequently which leads to being treated and viewed differently (Tatum, 2000.) “Culture creates a person” (Vognar, 2012). In my opinion, culture influences how we represent ourselves; starting with how we communicate, behave, body gestures and postures. This can affect us psychologically. “Culture shapes us, but many events mold culture and we shape these just as much”. By virtue of unconsciously of us behaving in a way that we feel is culturally appropriate according to how we were raised from our early childhood years to our teenage

Culture is defined as the group of similar values, goals, outlooks, ideas and traditions that a shared by a certain group of people. The human race is diverse and varied, filled with many cultures. There are many differences in these cultures and because of these differences; the definition of normal differs from culture to culture. It only makes sense that diagnoses of psychopathologic disorders vary from culture to culture. However certain things will not change because fundamentally, we all still belong to the same species.

The concept of culture is something that defines many aspects of one’s life. From physical objects to different ways of thinking, culture adds significance to human life and makes groups of people distinct from one another. Culture is essentially a group of people who come together with similar interests and points of view. According to the Center for Advanced Language Acquisition of the University of Minnesota, “culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization.” From a more sociological perspective, culture is a way in which people come together in order to fulfill their needs. These shared patterns and ideas identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.” Culture is one of the things that sets the United States apart from the rest of the world. Not that the rest of the world is not cultural, but the circumstance here is different. Many people of different cultural backroads come to this country in search of a better life. As a consequence, the United States has become a place where many cultures merge together like a colossal pot soup.

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).

Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1962) identify over 150 scientific definitions of the concept of culture. Indeed, many authors have tried to define culture and this is why there are so many definitions and that a unique one is hard to find. First of all, Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) assume that culture is a suite of patterns, implicit and explicit, “of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts” (p.47). Later, Hofstede adds that culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede, 1991, p.51). This definition is the most widely accepted one amongst practitioners. For Winthrop (1991), culture is the distinctive models of thoughts, actions and values that composed members of a society or a social group. In other words,