The document discusses the concept of culture and its influence on health and disease. It defines culture as the learned behaviors, beliefs, and way of life shared by a group. Culture is transmitted through socialization and includes material and non-material components. Cultures can be individualistic or collectivistic and influence views of health, illness, and treatment. Providers should understand a patient's cultural beliefs to improve care and communication. Culture shapes perceptions of health and disease, expressions of illness, and treatment compliance. Understanding cultural differences can help providers deliver better care.

1. SOCIOLOGY
Unit-III
Culture
Dr. R. Mahendranath Chowdary, Ph.D
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work
The Apollo University- Chittoor
9885085025

2. Content-
• Culture- Meaning & its Nature
• Components of Culture
• Evolution of culture
• Diversity and uniformity of culture
• Culture and socialization
• Trans cultural society
• Influence on health and disease

3. INTRODUCTION
Culture is derived from the English
word ‘Kulthra’ and Sanskrit word
‘Samskar’ which denotes social
channel and intellectual excellence.
Culture is a way of life.

4. DEFINITION
• EB Taylor- Culture is a complex whole, which
includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,
customs and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by the man as a member of society.
• Leglic AY White- Culture is a symbolic
continuous, cumulative and progressive
process.
• Malinowski B- The cumulative creation of
man; the handwork of man and the medium
through which he achieves is ends.

5. DEFINITION
• Graham wallas- An accumulation of thoughts,
values and objects; it is the social heritage acquired
by us from preceding generations through learning
as distinguished from the biological heritage which is
passed on to us automatically through genes.
• CC North- The instruments constituted by man to
assist him in a satisfying his wants.
• Redfield- Culture is an organization of phenomenon
of acts, objects, ideas attitudes, values and use of
the symbols. Culture is an organized body of
conventional understanding manifested in arts and
artifacts which persisting through tradition,
characterizes the group.

6. NATURE OF CULTURE
Culture is a learned behavior not inherited. It is
learned through experience, imitation,
communication, concept, thinking and socialization
process.
Culture is transmitted by vertically or horizontally
thus it is communicative. Vertical transmission is
from one generation to another whereas horizontal
transmission is from one group to another group
within the same period
Culture is social not individual the pattern of
thinking, feeling & acting can be shared by the
members of the group and kept relatively uniform
through group pressures.

7. NATURE OF CULTURE
Culture provides opportunities and provides
means for the satisfaction of our needs and
desires to fulfill group functions.
Culture is adaptive It may institute changes in
the environment as a means of adopting,
instead of altering themselves to the changing
environments.

8. NATURE OF CULTURE
• Culture is dynamic Culture is subjected to
slow but constant change, it respond to the
changing condition of the world.
• Every society has its own culture
• Continuous and cumulative
• Integrative

9. TYPES OF CULTURE
There are two types of culture i.e. material culture
and non-material culture
• Material culture- Material culture concerned with
the external, mechanical and utilitarian objects. It
can be easily communicated and makes our life
more comfortable, luxurious and meaningful. Thus
material culture has the extrinsic value like housing,
fashion, diet etc. material culture represent the
whole apparatus of life or civilization.
• Non-material culture- It includes the concepts,
values, mores and ideas e.g. monogamy,
democracy, worship etc.

10. FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE
• It makes man as a human being.
• To regulate the conduct and prepares the
human being for group life through the
process of socialization.
• It defines the meaning of situation.
• Provides solutions for difficult situations.
• Defines values, attitudes and goals.

11. FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE
• Broaden the vision of individuals.
• Provide behavior patterns and relationship
with others.
• Keep the individual behavior intact.
• Moulds national character.
• Define myths, legends, supernatural believes.
• Creates new needs and interests.

12. COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
Components of culture are as follows-
• Symbols
• Language
• Values
• Folkways
• Mores (Civilization, society etc.,)
• Laws
• Customs

13. EVOLUTION OF CULTURE
• Evolution of specific culture is difficult to
identify
• But from the discoveries and inventions
cultural development can be identified
• But one thing is clear that culture is as old as
man
• Though the material aspects does not us about
the culture but reveals the evolution of culture

14. DIVERSITY AND UNIFORMITY OF CULTURE
• Culture is a set of behavior of a group.
Therefore there are many culture as there are
many groups.
• Culture of one group may differ completely or
in certain aspects from other.
These variations are known as cultural diversity.

15. DIVERSITY AND UNIFORMITY OF CULTURE
Factors responsible for diverse culture are as
follows-
• Geographical location
• Unconscious behavior imitated and later on
become a custom which is the part of culture
• Flexibility in behavior
• Technological advancement
• Religious belief
• Life style
• Language

16. UNIFORMITY OF CULTURE
• Uniformity of culture is meant by sharing the
same type of cultural pattern by the different
group of people.
• Uniformity of culture is far more complex than
it seems.
• Uniformity is based on the belief of God’s
superiority.

17. CULTURE AND SOCIALIZATION
• Culture is defined as the belief, values, behavior
and material objects shared by a particular
group of people.
• Socialization is the process which shapes and
defines our thoughts, feelings and also provides
us with a model for our behavior.
• This process of socialization teaches the human
being the cultural values and norms which
provide the guidelines for our everyday life.

18. CULTURE AND SOCIALIZATION
• Human infants are born without any culture.
• They must be transformed by agents of socialization
such as family, parents, teachers, peers and mass
media into culturally adapt human beings.
• This general process of acquiring culture is referred
to as socialization.
• Successful socialization can result in uniformity
within society.
• Through the socialization personality develops.
• Socialization helps us to perform specific role in
society which is culturally bound.

19. TRANS CULTURAL SOCIETY
• Transculturalism is defined as "seeing oneself in
the other".
• Transcultural is in turn described as "extending
through all human culture" or "involving,
surrounding, or combining elements of more than
one culture".

20. TRANS CULTURAL SOCIETY
Transculturalism is characterized by the following:
• Transculturalism emphasizes on the problematic of
contemporary culture in terms of relationships,
meaning-making, and power formation; and the
transitory nature of culture as well as its power to
transform.
• Transculturalism is interested in dissonance,
tension, and instability as it is with the stabilizing
effects of social conjunction, communalism, and
organization.
It is interested in the breakdown of groups,
cultures, and power.

21. TRANS CULTURAL SOCIETY
Transculturalism is characterized by the following:
• does not seek to privilege over the material
conditions of life, nor vice versa.
• accepts that language and materiality.
• locates relationships of power (language and
history)
• deeply suspicious
• can never avoid the force of its own precepts and
the dynamic that is culture.
• never sides with one moral perspective over
another.

22. Influence on Health and disease
Culture has been described as an iceberg, with
its most powerful features hidden under the
ocean surface as illustrated

23. Cultural elements are often obvious but possibly less
influential than the unrecognized or subconscious elements
providing ballast below.

24. The cultural range
• Culture is commonly divided into two broad
categories at opposite ends of a
range: collectivistic & individualistic.
• Most cultures fall somewhere between the two
poles
• Different views in human health, as well as on
treatment, diagnoses and causes of illness.

25. Providing health care to different cultural groups
Health care providers should learn skills around cultural
competence and patient-centred care.
Such skills can be a compass for explore, respecting and
using cultural similarities and differences to improve
quality of care and patient outcomes.
• Cultures are dynamic.
• There is huge diversity within any culture.
• Even when you think you understand one culture, it will
have evolved or you will have identified exceptions.

26. Characteristic of collectivistic and individualistic culture
Collectivistic Individualistic
Focus on “WE” Focus on “I”
Promote relatedness and
independence
Value independence
Connection to the family Value ability to make personal
individual choices as a right
Value respect and obedience Emphasize individual initiative
and achievement
Emphasize group goals,
cooperation and harmony
Lesser influence of group views
and values and in fewer aspects
of life
Greater, broader influence of
group views and values

27. Learning points:
• The health care provider’s culture is
individualistic, while the mother’s is more
collectivistic. The mother needed to consult
before she could provide an answer.
• Communication styles differ.
The mother feared shaming the provider by
doubting advice, but also didn’t feel comfortable
admitting that she would have to bring the choice
home to decide.
• Education level is not an issue

28. Impact of culture on health
Health is a cultural concept because culture frames and shapes
how we perceive the world and our experiences.
• How patients and health care providers view health and illness.
• What patients and health care providers believe about the causes of
disease.
• Which diseases or conditions are stigmatized and why. In many
cultures, depression is a common stigma and seeing a psychiatrist
means a person is “crazy”
• What types of health promotion activities are practiced,
recommended or insured. In some cultures being “strong”
• How illness and pain are experienced and expressed.
• Patient interaction with health care providers.
For example, not making direct eye contact is a sign of respect in
many cultures, but a care provider may wonder if the same
behaviour means her patient is depressed.
• The degree of understanding and compliance with treatment options
recommended by health care providers who do not share their
cultural beliefs. Some patients believe that a physician who doesn’t
give an injection may not be taking their symptoms seriously.

29. What health professionals can do
Health care providers are more likely to have positive interactions with patients and
provide better care if they understand what distinguishes their patients’ cultural
values, beliefs and practices from their own.
The following suggestions may help you care for and communicate with patients
• Consider how your own cultural beliefs, values and behaviours may affect
interactions with patients.
• Respect, understand and work with differing cultural perceptions of effective or
appropriate treatment.
• Where needed, arrange for an appropriate interpreter.
• Listen carefully to your patients and confirm that you have understood their
messages.
• Make sure you understand how the patient understands his or her own health or
illness.
• Recognize that families may use complementary and alternative therapies.
• Try to ‘locate’ the patient in the process of adapting culture. Assess their support
system. What are their language skills?
• Negotiate a treatment plan based on shared understanding and agreement.
• Find out whether a patient or family would benefit from spoken or visual
messaging for reasons of culture or limited literacy.

30. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK3oqU2
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Reference
• https://www.kidsnewtocanada.ca/culture/infl
uence