Social Experiences
and the Concepts of Culture: Basic Perspectives in Sociology and Transcultural Nursing
ABSTRACT
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The study of culture was first used in this way by the pioneer English
Anthropologist Edward B. Tylor in his book, Primitive Culture, published in
1871. Tylor said that culture is the complex
whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. This paper
revolves the discussion on important concept of culture such as values, beliefs, norms, language, folkways,
mores, laws, traditions and other similar concepts that will provide better
understanding about the whole social experiences of man in the society.
There are also the basic perspectives in
sociology that need to distinctly emphasize within the conceptual framework of
culture. There are examples presented here based on transcultural
nursing which appeared less than 30 years ago that was developed by Leininger. As expounded by Leininger that transcultural
nursing focuses on the study of the need to work with people from widely divergent
cultural atmosphere. People from various cultures and subcultures are more
common in  today’s
world. These people are sensitive to the preservation of their cultural
heritage and customs. It is critical that nurses,
because of their direct patient care, understand and work effectively within
this diverse cultural atmosphere.
The presentation of this research paper
introduces the basic concepts of sociology and culture such as elements of
culture, senses of culture, characteristics of culture, and development of
culture. Likewise, the paper presents the perpectives
of anthropologyÂ
designed by Bodley (1994 presented that
culture involves at
least three components:(1) what people think, (2) what people do, and (3)
material things people produce. Thus, mental and cognitive processes, the
practice of everyday life and the house we build are parts of culture. O’Neil
(2007) presented the layer of culture including ethnographic discussions about
society and culture. There are also important discussion made by O’Neil (2007)
that has relevance in transcultural nursing to study   illness and its to
culture. The sociological areas presented in this paper
emphasizes basic background in the study of culture which can
elaborately studied the perspectives of transcultural
nursing.
