Cross-Cultural Psychology - Essay Example

Assignment Sati – A Cultural Phenomenon Sati is a common practice of women giving up their lives for their husbands, in the country of India. It is a funeral practice that holds a great amount of importance in a number of Indian religions. The spouse of a man must give up or sacrifice her life for her husband after his death, either voluntarily or by force and in the process, she must be immolated on the funeral pyre of her husband itself. This is a very common practice, however, decreasing in number in modern day India.

It has been regarded as a form of suicide by modern day analysts who have tried to stop this practice which is also leading to a decline in the population of women folk across a number of Indian towns and villages. With respect to evolutionary behaviour, this form of giving up one’s life has slowly evolved over the ages in India. In the ancient times, the phenomenon was prevalent among kings and queens as the queens would usually give up their lives when their husbands died in wars, rather than remain widows for the rest of their lives.

Since then, the practice has evolved a great extent and has taken shape in an adverse manner, causing degradation to the entire Indian society. If one thinks of the custom as something that would have evolved over the ages and helped the situation get better, Sati is not the best explanation for growth and development within society at all. It is in fact something that has been hindering the same, and has not let women gain absolute freedom. Sociological factors have also helped to lead to this very custom of Sati.

It is a custom that has evolved from the very thoughts of people living in olden day India; the country witnessed ideals arising from a very patriarchal form of society where the men folk had the power to decide what was to happen and how it was to be carried out. Women did not have the opportunity to receive any form of education or do as they please din any walk of life and thus, the sociological aspects of society helped to formulate and lead to the inception of this horrifying act of giving up one’s life for the men.

Over the years, the custom has become a part of every woman’s life; at least those those have not been educated or received any form of exposure to the modern outer world. It has become a very inherent part of a woman’s mind to have the courage to be able to sacrifice her being for her husband’s well being. Women have been able to tune themselves in a manner befitting Indian society to an extent however, modern day eco cultural aspects have helped people to understand and comprehend how this custom should be stopped completely.

As more and more women have been receiving formal education and understanding the negative impact of the custom in society and on themselves, they have realised, on a very psychological level, how it should not be carried on any further. References Shiraev, E., & Levy, D. (2010). Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Pearson Education, Inc.