Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Assignment 5
Assignment 5
Assignment 5
Introduction
Before explaining the four interrelated concepts, I shall try to make a short
incursion into the history of abnormality and highlight some of the most
important instrumental notions which help in my attempt to defining the
abnormality.
Throughout history, philosophers and physicians gave different
explanations and classifications for abnormal behaviour. Suffice it to say
that even a bird's-eye view of the basic studies will place us in a difficult
position of finding the right ingredients and defining comprehensively
abnormality and deviance. Human nature seems to firmly obstinate to get
encapsulated in our definitions. When it comes to transfer western
classifications and diagnosis across cultures, one can find itself lost as not
only that our tools are inadequate but they do not find any reference, any
object to treat the disorders are missing. The occidental behaviours are
not normative and their deviations neither. The lens have to be changed
otherwise we run the risk of being diagnosed as culturally blind. Culture
blindness may not be so far, through its consequences, from the
superstitions and supernatural forces ascribed to mental and behavioural
disorders in the ancient times. Throughout history there have been many
theories of the etiology of mental illness: supernatural, somatogenic or
psychogenic interpretation framework coexisted and developed over time.
Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna, Paracelsus, J. Weyer, Ph. Pinel, Benjamin
Rush, Emil Kraepelin, Freud, Mesmer, Charcot, Breuer, the classical
behavioural schools and all the modern and postmodern paradigms are
the main stops in our voyage through madness and civilization. We have
to stop and pay a visit to their material bodies too, the modern
institutionalised houses, hospitals, asylums where disordered minds,
possessed bodies found their cure or reached the abysses of insanity or
complete demonic possession. Religious or magical remedies, healing
rituals, charms and prayers, trephining, hallucinogens, drugs, acupuncture,
bloodletting, talking therapy, incubation in temples, incantations, amulets,
exorcism, purification through tortures, starvation, extreme pain, diets,
shocking the possessed person, animal magnetism (Mesmer), lobotomies,
insulin shock therapies, cathartic methods, electro convulsive therapies,
psychic energizers, cognitive behavioural therapies, natural therapy,
massages, homeopathy and all the postmodern therapies are examples of
treatments for the troubles of the soma and psych throughout the history
of humanity. If in doubt or to be on the safe side, we can always consult
International Classification of Diseases (ICD) or (DSM) that stands for
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the answers,
methods, techniques, remedies, cures for casting the evil spirits out of our
imbalanced bodies and neurotic minds are all there.
Maladaptiveness of behaviour
The abnormal behaviour is related this time to deviation from the social
norms or conventions that regulate as an invisible hand the behaviours of
individuals in a given society at some point in time. The social norms
existed and exist in all cultures and it is impossible to imagine one place
populated with at least two individuals and without any rules or
conventions that govern their social order. The norms can be formal or
informal; can be conventions, rules without any meaning or legitimacy
outside a certain delimited space/ territory or period of time. Depending
on how open or exposed the social group is, the norms can be subject to
influences or changes over time.
Norms impose uniformity of behaviour within a given social group and any
small deviation is frowned upon or severely punished according to the
degree of importance of the norm or the feelings offended.
From their birth, through socialisation process, people are exposed to all
kind of norms and social constrains, more or less explicitly justified, more
or less rational. People are expected to internalise them and to behave
accordingly. When fail, the group shall use its punishment tools in order to
restore the social equilibrium and direct the individual on the right path. If
the wrong behaviour persists, the individual is labelled as abnormal and
pressures are made in order to determine the individual to adhere to
majority norms.
Deviation is related to cultures, to contexts, to times. Wearing burqa is a
must in some Islamic countries, unusual in other countries, habitual or
ignored in others. Labelling an entire culture as abnormal, in some cases,
may be as unfair as labelling a single individual as abnormal when
deviating from the majority rules or failing to meet the "standard deviation
units".
There are numerous studies analysing the relationship between
intelligence and cultures. While there is a little consensus on what
intelligence really means from one culture to another, the literature
suggests that culture of an individual will determine how intelligence is
conceived. The problem arises when people from one culture will be
assessed according to standards and criteria from another culture and
labelled as retarded. It is well known the example of Japanese students
failing to get good scores in their literature assignments while studying in
France. Their way of analysing the texts was not well appreciated by their
French teachers as perceived as beat around the bush, too metaphorical
and poetics. The Japanese students, despite an excellent command of
French language, were failing to leave up to the analytical, rigorous
standards of French tradition.
Thus, one has to be aware of the limits of these statistical norms when
analysing human behaviour and labelling them as normal or abnormal.
Personal distress
A third criterion of abnormal behavior is personal distress. When
we engage in abnormal behavior, the cause (and sometimes, result) of our
behavior can be distress. A good example of this is obsessive-compulsive
disorder, where anxiety about something can lead to compulsive behaviors
meant to relieve that distress. The problem with personal distress, though,
is that some people with mental illness do not feel distress, such as people
with antisocial personality disorder who have an underdeveloped
conscience
We all suffer from some form of distress but sometimes distress may
be indicative of an underlying psychological problem. Distress therefore
becomes the symptom of psychological disorder and is often used as a
way of gauging someone's mental state.
So, no two people experience one event the exact same way.
Psychological distress is a subjective experience. That is, the severity of
psychological distress is dependent upon the situation and how we
perceive it. We can think of psychological distress as a continuum with
'mental health' and 'mental illness' at opposing ends. As we continue to
experience different things, we travel back and forth on the continuum at
different times throughout our lives.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Notes
QUESTIONS INTERVIEW
Notes :
Revolutions are another way in which cultures can change. Entire political
and economic systems, legal systems, rulers, and ways of life can change
due to revolution
The fall of Ceausescu Regime and the beginning of a new page of history
1989 was the year of remarkable popular uprisings throughout the world.
December saw the fall of the communist dictator, Nicolae Ceauescu and a
new era started.
2. using notesessay
Even "rock-solid" institutions like the family, the law, and religions are
subject to change, even though they represent social continuity. There has
always been 'family' and it is still the
foundational institution for society and the primary agent of socialisation,
however the composition of 'family' has changed in recent years, leading
to different kinds of families and different socialisation experiences for
their members.
The desintegration of the traditional familiy model has had dramatic
consequences on their members for both those that left the country and
those remaining. Chidren spent their childhood without at least one of
their parents, couples lived separately for long periods of time, parents felt
abandoned, and those that left the country felt divided between two lands.
As Bauman notes, 'Most of us, most of the time, are in two minds about
that novelty of "bond-free living" - of relationships "with no strings
attached". We covet them and fear them at the same time.' The flipside of
freedom from ties rooted in social convention is a lack of guarantees, and
a heightened consciouness of the risk involved in relationships.
Forms of modern life may differ in quite a few respects but what unites
them all is precisely their fragility, temporariness, vulnerability and
inclination to constant change. To be modern means to modernize
compulsively, obsessively; not so much just to be, let alone to keep its
identity intact, but forever becoming, avoiding completion, staying under
- defined.
As time flows on, modernity changes its forms in the manner of the
legendary Proteus . . .
According to some authors, we are living now in a 'liquid modernity' and
we are having now a liquid identity.
I was a teenager when the Revolution happened but I recall vividly a lot of
quotidian experiences from that communist period school time, queues
to get rationalised bread, meat, sugar, oil etc. As an anecdote, the queue
is not only a British cultural feature but also a Romanian one we have a
long tradition in making a queue but with a huge difference; the organised
and patient English queues have a chaotic, angry and impatient version in
Romania maybe now when seeing Romanian people in their queue you
will be more tolerant and comprehensive keeping in mind that we still
associate probably staying in queue with a survival experience to be
lucky enough to get your piece of bread!
The educational systems are in full process of reforms like many other
spheres of public life.
People react on the streets and just recently we have had hundreds of
thousands of anti-corruption demonstrators fighting against corruption and approved
amendments to the criminal code on amnesties for prisoners.
Romanian feel Europeans and adhere to European values and are as Europeans as any other
European citizens. Strolling on the streets of Bucharest is a voyage through history and
hopefully the old will continue to survive with the new in a good marriage as we must never
forget our history and our past. As the saying goes: Those who do not remember their past
are condemned to repeat their mistakes.
In regard to the complex and problematic issue of identity, Romanian people face maybe the
same confusion and disequilibrium as many other individuals living in the actual fluid
international context.
Cultural identity is not a fixed essence, lying unchanged outside history. It is not some
universal and transcendent spirit, it is not once-and-for all. Modern identities seem to be
framed by two axes, simultaneously operating: similarity/ continuity and difference/
rupture. From this perspective, the identities have to be thought of in terms of the dialogic
relationship between these two axes. To return to your country after any long absence is to
experience again the shock of the doubleness of similarity and difference.
One thinks of identity whenever one is not sure of where belongs; to what place, to what time.
One is not sure where and how to place oneself among the variety of behavioural styles, and
how to make sure that people around would accept this placement as right and appropriate.
Often correlated with durability, solidity, stability, similar to something material nowadays
identity has the ontological status of a project and a postulate. It is like we are being thrown
into the world for borrowing the heideggerian idea and our identity, personal, cultural or of
our country is being towards-projects, towards to- become. We cannot pretend to keep our
identity unaltered whilst our history and our past are composed of fragments, of waves, of
waxes and wanes; it is not a river. How should we have a continuous identity in the middle of
such a tumultuous storm?
Having a home is a part of the safety package, in the beautiful Zygmunt Bauman` words.
Home is the place to go, to return when the adventure is over. The world become the place I
am visiting and homesickness is just the reflection of our need of belonging.
For concluding, the self, individual or even the self of one culture becomes a kind of project
that individuals have to work on: they have to create biographical narratives that will
explain themselves to themselves. People and countries long for a consistent and coherent
identity; the idea of the eternal return accompanies us whenever and wherever.
What makes me myself rather than anyone else is the very fact that I am poised between two
countries, two or three languages and several cultural traditions.
It is precisely this that defines my identity.
Would I exist more authentically if I cut off a part of myself?
In the name of identity: violence and the need to belong, Amin Maalouf
4. We are all different. Ways that we can learn more about people from
cultures different to our own.
1. The Collector
2. The Conformist
A dreary universal type. The Conformist travels not for personal satisfaction but for social
acceptance - perhaps even finds personal satisfaction in social acceptance. Destinations are
chosen from a limited, unimaginative, class-determined table d'hte menu. This is by no
means a toffs-only snob thing. It applies across the social spectrum. The Conformist can be
spotted from Magaluf to Megve. The point isn't where you've been but what your peers think
about where you've been.
3. The Thrill-Seeker
4. The Escapist
Fugitive from the familiar. An intriguing type, labouring under that most delightful of
delusions, namely, that anything at all - boredom, worry, heartbreak, guilt, fear, failure,
conflict, one's own reflection in the mirror - can be lost with distance. Alas, it cannot. Yet it
always seems worth a try.
5. The Self-Improver
Admirable if a little dull. Up early, out late, cheerfully making the most of everything a new
place has to offer. Tremendous stamina. Sensible shoes. Likely to do a lot of research
beforehand, to pack a lot of books and to return with even more. A second cousin of
6. The Pilgrim
Follower of trails, visitor of shrines - religious and otherwise. The most devoted Pilgrims I
have ever seen were not at Lourdes or on the banks of the Ganges but at Beatrix Potter's old
house, Hill Top, in Cumbria. But that was ages ago. These days certain shopping streets and
malls seem to exert a similar fascination. I recently played a round of golf in Norway and
afterwards bought my three companions beer and waffles at the clubhouse. The teenage girl
tending the bar clearly knew her way around a waffle iron but seemed to me far too young to
be serving alcohol. I asked her how she planned to spend the money she was earning. 'In
London,' she said, beaming. 'At Westfield.' Which of the two Westfields? 'The Stratford one.
It's bigger.'
7. The Pioneer
Almost extinct in the wild. Like most endangered species, The Pioneer is running out of
habitat, since so much of the world has been pioneered already. In a lounge at Changi Airport
the other day I had occasion to wonder whether The Pioneers of today are not great, fearless,
eccentric explorers of the Vasco da Gama or Wilfred Thesiger variety but grey-faced men in
suits opening up obscure business ventures in (I don't know) parts of China where there are
cities that you and I have never heard of with populations of four or five or six million people.
I'm afraid I'm automatically suspicious of business travellers, a reaction probably born of a
combination of ignorance and the jealous assumption that they're likely to become insanely
rich through their nefarious trade-related missions. I try to remind myself that Marco Polo was
basically a business traveller, as well as a true Pioneer and a stand-up guy.
8. The Occasional
9. The Oblivious
The saddest type of traveller. The one not paying attention, not remotely interested in where
he or she is. I was shocked, many years ago, to hear someone ask Ruth Prawer Jhabvala about
her fabulously glamorous life as a celebrated novelist and screenwriter responsible for several
wildly successful Merchant-Ivory movies. 'Most of the time I don't even bother to look up and
see where I am,' she drawled from behind a pair of enormous sunglasses, or words to that
effect. I was floored. 'Room with a View' indeed.
Eyes, ears, mind all wide open. Rare and precious and beautiful
Adventure travel can be defined as: a vacation or trip to a natural environment or remote location
with the specific purpose of active physical participation and exploration of a new experience.
Nowadays many specialist companies and organisations can design a personalized itinerary that suits
your individual adventure travel desires
Adventure travel is to intentionally go beyond ones normal known area, seeking out experiences
which are unfamilar. This form of travel can expose travellers to additional health risks and it is this
group of travellers who will probably benefit the most from taking their own customised medical kit with
them.
1. The Techie Travels just so they can purchase new travel tech gear
The partier When are we gonna start drinking?" they say at 8 a.m.
4. The Chiller They have no plans. They just go with the flow and see where they end up
every day.
5. The No-Expense Traveler Zero budget. Buys ALL the souvenirs and meals.
The Repeater ikely destination: Disney World for the 1,000th time.
14. The Complainer Likely destination: Place with the most similar
culture to their own.
15. The Group Likely destination: All major monuments and famous
statues.
16. The Solo Traveler Likely destination: Anywhere off the beaten path.
How will you define a tourist? Tourist can be defined as a person, who makes
a tour away from home for leisure, business or other purposes for more than
one day but less than a year. Based on their various needs and reasons for
traveling, tourists are classified in the following categories:
Incentive tourists: Incentives tourists are those few lucky individuals, who
get a holiday package as a reward from his company, for good work or
achieving targets, set by the company. Incentive tourists draw inspiration
from such tours to work harder, improve work relations and focus on team
bonding. A salesman who is awarded with a nice holiday package for
accomplishing the target sales is a perfect example of incentive tourist.
Sport and recreation tourist: These sorts of tourists either take active part
in or just watch sports events. Some of such popular sport events are the
Soccer World Cup, Wimbledon Tennis Championship, Comrades Marathon,
and Fisher River Canoe Marathon.