The American Approach to Anthropology - Essay Example

Compare and Contrast the American Approach to Anthropology through Culture and Personality With the Approach of the British Functionalist School Table of Contents Introduction 3 American Approach to Anthropology through Culture and Personality 3 Functionalism and British Approach 5 Compare and Contrast 6 Conclusion 9 References 11 Introduction Anthropology primarily refers to the process of compiling knowledge about a particular subject matter by conducting researches. To be precise, it can be ascertained that anthropology is the study of the present and past of humans that is mainly developed from the knowledge accumulated from the domain of social sciences, biological sciences as well as humanities among others1. It must be mentioned that there exists a noteworthy difference between the approach to anthropology of the Americans and the British Functionalist School especially in the domain of culture and personality. It has been observed that there are usually four parts or sections of Anthropology that includes Archaeology, Physical, Linguistics and Cultural anthropology. The idea of four-field anthropology mainly emerged from the United States and European continent. Cultural anthropology mainly relates to the advancement of the American culture during the early 19th century. American anthropologist often seeks to comprehend about how people in the American society intended to understand and appreciate the world around them. On the other hand, the approach of the British Functionalist School differs with the Americans especially in terms of studying the culture and anthropology of the society2. Contextually, this particular essay intends to present a comparative analysis about the approach of the Americans to anthropology on the basis of the culture and personality with that of the approach or thinking process of the British Functionalist School. American Approach to Anthropology through Culture and Personality Culture and personality forms a core part of the subject area of anthropology especially in context to the American way of thinking for this particular subject. This particular aspect of personality mainly deals with the approach of comprehending the relation amid the personality traits of individuals with that of his/her cultural significance. In the process of understanding the interlink amid culture and personality within the American process of thinking, certain ideas such as cultural pattern and personality traits are provided with utmost importance. Erik Erikson and Ruth Benedict were among the pioneer leaders who worked towards understanding the approach of the American anthropology in the domain of personality and culture3. The American approach to anthropology mainly includes gaining knowledge from the textbook about past culture as well as personality and interlinking the same with the assumptions and theories developed by numerous scholars for this particular subject matter. However, this particular approach limits the extensiveness, accuracy and reliability of the information gathered through anthropological studies. With regard to the American perspectives of anthropology, it is believed that there is a cognitive difference amid the civilised American society and the primitive one. The way of thinking amid the primitive men and civilised contemporary men within the American society differ in terms of their mental process, as a civilised man is believed to have higher mental stability than that of the primitive men. On the other hand, with regard to personality, anthropological approach of the Americans mainly considers the basic outlook of personality as well as modal personality. It is ascertained that within the American society, culture is mainly developed from individual characteristics of personality4. Functionalism and British Approach Functionalism was a particular concept developed as a reaction against all the prevailing outdated ideologies relevant to anthropological study. It was an approach to ensure an evolutionism in the anthropological approach of the British and the American society. The approach of the British to anthropology is mainly characterised with the theory of functionalism. British functionalism intends to shift from the diachronic study with regard to customs and culture and move to a more functional approach with due consideration to the present day anthropological scenario. The British approach to functionalism relates to the approach of evaluating socio-cultural inquiry based on theories and methods rather than following comprehension relevant to the evolution of the societal history. It has been noted that evolutionary approach mainly deals with understanding the customs or cultural traits based on the remnants of the past culture or history. However, with numerous transformations, the functional theory that is being followed by the British intends to elaborate the socio-cultural prevalence based on the observed cultural fact rather than historical findings and remnants. The approach of the British structural-functionalism can be identified in the form of depicting the issues within the society on the basis of social differentiation, integration as well as social evolution among others, which are among the core elements of functionalism theory. The British ideologies relevant to anthropology also suggests that social structures can be also determined from the integration of ritual, ideology along with values of the people living in the society5. These aspects shows that British functionalist deals with determining social anthropology based on the present day trends and functions rather than just relying on historical existence of an issue. Compare and Contrast As mentioned above, within the American anthropology, culture and personality are interlinked with one another. It has been noted that culture and personality are among the most vital elements of anthropological theory followed by the Americans in the 20th century. Americans mainly intends to explain cultural anthropology by analysing personality traits of individuals within the society. It has been comprehended that as per the American anthropology approach, characters and personalities of people within a particular community further reflect the overall personality of the society on a national level. For example, understanding of child-rearing approach for a particular community or culture is believed to depict the characteristics of the child rearing culture of the overall nation. On the other hand, social or cultural Anthropology in Britain is also regarded as empirical philosophy, which depicts that culture and personality directly relates to cognitive behavioural traits of people. Culture and personality anthropology in Britain initiates with assumptions, which are further affirmed on the basis of relevant information compiled from literatures and historical remains6. It has been recognised that in the US, cultural anthropology is used as a synonym for social anthropology. While, in the UK society, cultural anthropology is recognised as a synonym to rituals and behavior of the people within the society. In this regard, the approach of the US and the UK can be seen as more or less similar to one another. This can further be justified from the fact that both anthropologist in the US and the UK considers culture and personality anthropology as studies of customs, conflicts and behavior of individuals within the society7. This shows that British and American anthropology move hand-in-hand with one another on certain aspects. In the American society, cultural and personality studies relevant to anthropology are often termed as psychological anthropology. It mainly intends to evaluate the kinds of personality of individuals, which further affect the cultural practices within the society. Personality is believed to be an important component of American anthropology, which is a reflection of its cultural practices and vice versa. The anthropological studies conducted in terms of culture and personality in the US implements the fusion of psychological studies with that of the anthropological tools, which further help in ensuring elaborate and extensive views about a particular culture in the society in the most accurate manner. It has been also noted that the aspect of cultural anthology within the American society is entirely a conception of intellectual, aesthetic and religious practices of the people. It can be argued in context to the American anthropological approach that culture often determines personality patterns of a particular community or society and vice versa. Culture of an individual with any sphere affects his/her emotions, thought process and values. In the history of the American anthropological studies, culture and personality were argued to be synonyms to one another. However, a clear discussion was not present on whether personality influences and/or creates a particular culture or is it just the reverse where culture shapes personality of individuals. Ruth Benedict who was one of the most popular anthropologists in America intended to provide a clear explanation about the relation between personality and cultural practices. Notably, as per the viewpoint of Ruth Benedict, ritual behaviour of any individual further determines the extent of their cultural practices. She also determined that self-control of an individual towards drunkenness and danger could also result in considerable impact on his/her cultural practices8. This shows that individualistic behavior and personality have significant influences cultural practices. In contrast to the anthropological approach of the US, the structural functionalism of the British depicts each and every cultural trait to be interlinked with one another, which further affects the society on a whole. Notably, as per the British functionalist school, structured functionalism in the British society are characterised by four crucial aspects which includes personality, culture, society and behaviour that collectively known as the action system. The context of the British approach in anthropology towards personality and culture can be determined on the basis of the above mentioned aspects. It has been also recognised that anthropologists in Britain, characterises culture on the ground of numerous aspect comprising self-beliefs, human activities and spiritual activities. This approach of the British anthropology has certain relevance with the approach of the Americans in this particular topic. Culture is presented as everything that holds resemblance with life and actions of human in the British society. Culture of the British society as per the structural functionalism approach is defined as learning of individual that is conveyed via pluralities. This will further provide patterns that can depict the culture of the British society. Studies conducted by Bronislaw Malinowski, a famous social anthropologist of Britain can be vital to consider. His studies were mainly conducted on the basis of the functionalism concepts. One of his studies affirmed that cultural significance of any particular community could be largely comprehended from the way it meets the basic needs of the people. His studies also extensively discussed that to maintain stability within the society, cultural stability and balance is considered necessary9. Notably, the approach of the American anthropology with regard to culture and personality combines anthropology, sociology and psychology to provide a better comprehension of the society. Ruth Benedict in her study regarding the American culture depicted about sexual influence on culture and personality rather than depicting the biological influence on it. The study of Benedict is largely influenced from the theory of Freud, which depicts about the development of culture and personality. Hence, it is quite apparent that culture and personality mutually affect one another especially in context to the anthropological studies of the Americans. In similar context, the British approach to anthropology of culture and personality determines similar findings as well as certain difference10; 11; 12. The approach of the British related to such topic is concerned towards understanding the components of culture and personality such as beliefs, norms and values of individuals to understand trend as well as pattern of culture within a societal domain. Conclusion From the overall analysis of the paper, it can be comprehend that anthropological studies are quite important for having an elaborative understanding about a particular subject matter. The approach has its roots in the mid-19th century where people were concentrated towards understanding the prevailing culture and personality within the society based on the present trends and the historical findings. However, with the passage of time, transformation has been apparent in the approach of conducting anthropological researches especially in the aspect that reliance over the past trend and historical facts were reduced significantly. This was better comprehended with the anthropological approaches of the US and the UK in terms of gaining comprehension relevant to personality and culture. It has been observed that the American anthropologist depicted that personality of individuals within a particular community and society affects the overall culture of the society in a collective meaner. On the other hand, the approach of the British in similar topic depicted that factor such as beliefs and values of people within the community further shapes the cultural balance of the overall society. Hence, from the analysis, a clear difference can be recognised between the approach of the US and the UK towards anthropological studies. References Alten, K., 1998. Subdisciplines: Psychological Anthropology. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/theory_pages/Psychological.htm [Accessed October 13, 2014]. Braun, S., No Date. British Social Anthropology, Identity, Culture and Society. Academia. [Online] Available at: http://www.academia.edu/262123/British_Social_Anthropology_Identity_Culture_and_Society [Accessed October 13, 2014]. Department of Anthropology, 2009a. Anthropological Theories. Home. [Online] Available at: http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Functionalism [Accessed October 13, 2014]. Darnell, R., 2002. American Anthropology, 1971-1995: Papers from the American Anthropologist. Nebraska Press. Department of Anthropology, 2009b. Anthropological Theories. Home. [Online] Available at: http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Culture%20and%20Personality [Accessed October 13, 2014]. Hsu, F. L. K. & et. al., 2012. Psychological Anthropology: Approaches to Culture and Personality. Literary Licensing. Haviland, W. A. & et. al., 2012. The Essence of Anthropology 3rd ed. Cengage Learning. Kiste, R. C. & Marshall, M., 1999. American Anthropology in Micronesia: An Assessment. University of Hawaii Press. Moore, H. L., 2007. The Subject of Anthropology: Gender, Symbolism and Psychoanalysis. Polity. Oxford University, 2014. Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology: Dealing with Social and Cultural Diversity. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.isca.ox.ac.uk/ [Accessed October 13, 2014]. Read More