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How culture influence behaviour and personality
Impact of culture on people behavior
How culture influence behaviour and personality
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Students desire to stay up to par with their peers, whether that be socially or in this case, on the academic level. When one individual falls behind, there’s pressure on him or her to pick himself/herself up. At the same time, parents often stress the importance of the student’s grades along with the implications of the student’s future, such as entering a good college or landing a high-paying job. Moreover, the student’s own pride and personal aspirations are put on the line. Therefore, because society applies pressure on the student to perform well in school to admit himself/herself into a prestigious college or acquire a luxurious job, students reevaluate themselves and realize the way to reach that kind of success is not through arguing well but through “a show of information or vast reading, by grade-grubbing, or other forms of one-upmanship.”
Specific theories that indicate the linkage of behavior to the community are Merton’s Strain Theory, Agnew’s Strain Theory, Social Disorganization Theory, Elijah
What is fundamentalism? Essentially, it is an adherence to the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to life and teaching. In his book, Fundamentalism and American Culture, George M. Marsden attacks the daunting question of “How has the fundamentalist movement managed to resist the pressures of the scientific community and the draw of modern popular culture to hold on to their ultra-conservative Christian views?” Not only does this History textbook answer that pressing question, but it also tells the incredible, encouraging tale of how Christian principles CAN survive in a godless world. From the first chapter, Marsden notes fundamentalism’s steady march through American history.
In his strain theory, Agnew identifies several other sources of strain besides Merton’s disjunction between goals and means (Hemmens & Walsh, 2014). In this perspective, strain includes the negative emotions that arise from social relationships. According to Agnew, strain occurs when from the removal of positively valued stimuli such as the loss of a romantic partner, the presentation of negative stimuli such as negative school experiences and the prevention or a threat to prevent an individual from obtaining a positively valued goal (Hemmens & Walsh, 2014). In the case of Lafeyette, his strain came from all three sources. The removal of positively valued stimuli for him was losing Terrence to prison and his two friends to death (Kotlowitz, 1991).
There have been many inspirational success stories of those who have come from almost nothing to having everything in what seems like only an instant, and Andrew Carnegie is a perfect example. Many would have never guessed that a poor, uneducated Andrew Carnegie would be the owner of multi-billion dollar steel industry, along with a one hundred million dollar castle. However, before Carnegie's lavish lifestyle, he and his family lived in a one room attic of a weaver's cottage in Dunfermline, Scotland. But in search of a better and more improved life, Andrew Carnegie's family made the bold decision to move to the United States to fulfill their idea of the “American-dream”. Here, like most immigrants during this period, Carnegie worked long hours
4. Roman hung two flags, one Bolivian and one American on the wall of her dorm room because they represent two different cultures, both of them were important to her. As a college student, Roman is at last ready to become who she wants culturally without the impact of her parents. Even though, she couldn’t agree with her mom’s rules with the Bolivian culture growing up, she knows that as a young grown-up, her inheritance will always be a part of her. However, she would now be able to choose how much of a part she wishes for it to play in her life.
The culture of the United States was established on the American Dream regardless of race, religion, gender, or class. However, the American Dream was not attainable by everyone, so this imbalance created a strain between people’s means and goals. Merton’s strain theory was also prevalent in the documentary, 13th. The theory says that society puts pressure on people to achieve socially accepted goals, even though they lack the institutionalized means, which leads to strain, which may lead people to act out and commit crimes to meet these unattainable goals. People of color, specifically African Americans, don't have the same means that others do in this country.
Twain was one of the most outspoken critics of “American ruling-class ideology”. He wrote a series of articles protesting discrimination against Chinese immigrants and exposing police brutality in San Francisco. Although the crimes of the wealthy were untouched, the poor were brutalized by the police merely for the crime of being poor. “I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible to the invention of a degraded nature,” he wrote in 1868, “but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him.”
The American people in the 1930 's were very much isolationist. The United States just concluded World War I, a war that the people never really wanted to enter. With the help of world events, President Roosevelt and the American people, slowly moved from isolationism to intervention.
The above statement was made by Barack Obama, President of the United States of America during his acceptance Speech, November 7 2012. In this essay I will set out to break down these statements and analyse the content critically using Merton’s strain theory and Durkheim’s concept of anomie. I will initially set out some of the core principles of strain theory and the concept of anomie. . Furthermore I will analyze the concept of ‘’The American Dream’’
In the film Coming to America describing the two cultures in the film are the African and American cultures from Africa and Queens New York. The African and American cultures in the movie are different in some ways but similar in other ways by the way the characters in the movie are all family oriented with the respect they show their parents and the way the parents only want what is best for their children. Then there are subcultures in the film that go a little further with style of living. The culture in Africa is that people are to wait on the royal family for everything they do, but in America, the family cares for themselves without the help of servants. The rites of passage are a cultural norm in Africa for the Royal family by having arranged marriages.
Merton. The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals (such as the American dream) though they lack the means, this leads to strain which may lead the individuals to commit crimes. Two major concerns in strain theory are the sources of the strain, stress or how people adapt to the strain. Positivism are theories of social and structure are strain theories.
America’s identity is defined differently by every individual. Ideally it was to be a place of freedom and acceptance, identified by its message of liberty and hard-work, however the question arises whether America is a melting pot in which only one culture dominates or it a mosaic of many peoples’ histories. America’s potential and true identity lies within its ability to assimilate and create a natural individualism despite race, class, and immigration standing. A country as powerful and influential as America is within industry, politics, and socioeconomics cannot be abstract in definition.
Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emmanuel Cohen presented the theory of gang constitution that used Merton’s strain theory as a basis for why individuals resort to such group behavior. There are five adaptions to strain and of the five Sanyika was proximately cognate to the adaptation of revolt, which is the most complex of the five adaptations. Strain is considered the primary source for the development of criminals. According to Cohen, delinquent youths begin to value destruction of property and skipping school, not because these behaviors lead to a payoff or success in the conventional world, but simply because they defy the conventional norms and laws as good, thereby psychologically and physically rejecting the cultural system that has been imposed on them without preparation and fair distribution of resources. (Tibbets, p. 116)
The phenomena that Merton 's theory indicates towards can be successfully explained with the help of an example of how people achieve or strive to achieve economic success. For instance, in the U.S which has a capitalist system, everybody is motivated to attain financial profitability for a greater sense of positive identity. There are two legally approved ways of accomplishing this task, education and work. However, not everyone may have access to equal opportunities because of brokered access or discrimination on the basis of class, gender, race, sexuality etc. that is prevalent in most societies (Broidy & Agnew,1997).
