The Role of Culture in the Development of the Individual - Essay Example

The Role of Culture in the Development of the Individual al Affiliation: Culture plays a significant role in determining the way people interact. The level of interaction between the parents and their children is dictated by the culture. In addition, various cultural elements affect the personality of the people in a particular region. These elements determine their beliefs and behaviors. This has a major impact on their overall growth and development. The cultural environment also dictates the human behavior. This paper has discussed various elements associated with culture and how they contribute to the growth and development of a person. The Role of Culture in the Development of the Individual With the increasing levels of globalization, it has become easy for people to share ideas and cultural aspects with others who are located in different parts of the world. Culture refers mainly as the values, beliefs, and norms that are held dearly by a certain group of people. It therefore, determines the way people live, interact, learn, and behave (Chen & Rubin, 2011). The cultural elements limit the freedom of people and dictates what people will perceive as norm. This paper will analyze in depth the role that the culture plays in individual development. Individual development can be described simply as the outcome of interactions. The interaction between the parents and their children plays a significant role in the growth and development. For instance, when the parents play with their children, the children are likely to open up and share their ideas or any issues that might be affecting their growth and development. However, in Mayan Culture in Guatemala, some mothers find it as an embarrassing idea for them to play with their children. According to this culture, the role of player is given to other children or their grandparents. In such cultures, the growth of the child can be easily curtailed by the external environment. Negative influence by the peers might affect the behavior of the children. In such cases, parents might fail to note any change in their children’s behavior (Rogoff, 2003). As a result, many of the parents might get in shock when they note that their children are using drugs or engaging in criminal activities. However, this could have been changed if the culture allowed parents to interact with their children. Individual development is the outcome of interactions between biological organisms and environmental influences. In many cases, people consider nature and nurture as an outdated distinction. Children learn how to read and write through various routes of cultural transmission. Human culture which is a collection of material cultural artifacts has a major impact on the growth and development of a person. Therefore, culture does not involve learning socially. Instead, it is constituted by the use of cultural artifacts which are built or innovated by the previous generations. Culture has a major impact on the personality. The beliefs and values of a certain group of people have a major impact on the personality of the person. Culture is intimately involved from the birth until adulthood. For instance, a person who is brought up in a collectivist culture interacts with the rest of the people more effectively. Such a person can be able to integrate with all people irrespective of their personal ideologies. However, in cultures where people are viewed as independent, a child is likely to grow upholding individualism as one of the personality (Raeff & Benson, 2003). However, in case such a child is transferred to another culture, some changes are likely to be observed in the overall behavior. This means that when a child is introduced early to ideas or ideologies, they tend to use the ideologies to mold their internal behaviors. For instance, when obedience to the elders and conformity to other people’s expectation are emphasized by the parents, there is little room for individual choice on the part of the child. A child brought up in a culture that emphasize on these values is likely to be admired in the society. The values held by particular cultural group have a major impact on the growth and development of a person. Societies with strong values are able to control the behavior of their young children. For instance, communities that have prohibited violence and have stern measures to punish those who violate these rules are able to mould a generation that is law abiding. In addition, children brought up in such societies are able to control their emotions and behavior, an aspect that plays a significant role in maintaining law and order. However, many of the societal cultures are being eroded by modernism. Initially, the societies had their ways of ensuring that law was followed. However, in the meantime, the old generation no longer acts as role models to the other generations. Instead, they have been replaced by social media and video games. This explains why many of the children are now using violent means to solve their issues. Furthermore, the children are learning from the peers. This explains why the statistics indicate that the number of drug users in the modern society has increased. Moreover, early pregnancies and sexual transmitted diseases characterize the modern society. The role of culture in child’s development can be enhanced through understanding the individual’s cultural framework. In some cases, the parent may act as the socialization agent. On the other hand, some people’s cultural framework is the most critical aspect. Every function in the cultural development of a child appears twice in the child’s life; first on the social level and then on the individual level. However, all the higher functions originate from relationship between individuals (Johnson, 2014). Culture has shared believes and values, beliefs, or behaviors. Therefore, a human individual can only acquire the functions that exist in the social-cultural context. Human behavior is culturally mediated. Therefore, biological organism and the environment do not interact directly. Instead, culture acts as a mediating factor. Development is therefore, a concept with different levels or time scales. The understanding of these levels and how culture unites all the factors in development of an individual is significant in understanding human behavior. Culture provides its children with methods of thinking and how to solve various problems. These strategies are internalized by the children especially when they are interacting with their elders or other competent people in the society. As a result, culture provides the children with guidelines to be followed when growing up and interacting with the rest of the society members. Every culture has its distinct ways of guarding its values and beliefs. The cultural elements are passed from one generation to the other. However, these values are mainly important during the early days of child’s life. For instance, children brought up in a culture where moral values are well outlines and those who violate them are punished are not likely to be dragged towards bad behavior. In such a society, children are able to learn from the elders. Although some cultures do not encourage parents to interact with their children, the gaps that could exist because of lack of close interaction between the two parties have been closed by the elderly. Human development is not just a biological process. The external environment which is mainly influenced by the culture has a major role in molding the behavior and individual personality. People who are brought up in different cultural backgrounds have various ways of tackling issues. In many cases, those people lack consistency in their behavior. This is because when they were young, they learnt from different sources, an aspect that makes it very hard for them to identify themselves with a particular way of doing something. In conclusion, the role played by culture in development of a person cannot be quantified. People who have been brought up in a society that holds their moral values and beliefs are able to integrate effectively with the rest of the society. In addition, they have desirable values when compared to those who do not associate themselves with any culture. As a result, culture plays a significant role when a person is growing up. References Chen, X., & Rubin, K. H. (2011). Socioemotional development in cultural context. New York: Guilford Press. Johnson, W. (2014). Developing difference. Palgrave Macmillan. Raeff, C., & Benson, J. B. (2003). Social and cognitive development in the context of individual, social, and cultural processes. London: Routledge. Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford [UK: Oxford University Press. Read More