The Role of Society and Culture in the Person’s Development

2 Roles

1. Society and culture can be the evidence of human development.

2. Society and culture can be the instruments for human development.

Society and culture can be the evidence of human development.

“Culture, Somas, and Human Development”By Arthur Warmouth, Ph.D.

Culture, Somas, and Human Development

• Written by Arthur Warmouth, Ph.D.

• He is a professor in the Sonoma State University, Skaggs Island Foundation.

• He wrote this journal article in 1997, and was updated in 2001.

Culture, Somas, and Human Development

• Humans are uniquely cultural species. Humans are the only specie that developed capacity for complex symbolic communication about the world, as well as the capacity to create tools and institutions based on that complex symbolic understanding.

• Symbolic communication - All human communication that is based on the exchange of symbols. (Ex. sign language, verbal language, body language, music, sign systems based on touch, pictures, advertisements )

Culture, Somas, and Human Development

Culture and Human Development• Culture is a symbolic medium of communication. It is

neither static or homogeneous.

• It is the sum total of society’s symbolic operating systems and the basis for its ecological adaptation to the environment. (Anthropological perspective)

• It begins with the deep programming of the psyche in the preverbal somatic, imaginal, and emotional awareness. (Developmental psychological perspective)

Culture, Somas, and Human Development

Culture and Human Intelligence• Culture is the shared ability of specific human groups to

communicate, organize, and develop useful information about the world and its inhabitants. (Cognitive psychology perspective)

• It is the collective embodiment and expression of human intelligence. It is the actualization of the ability of human groups to use signs and symbols to effectively communicate and use information about the world.

Culture, Somas, and Human Development

Culture, Somas, and Human Intelligence• Culture is the fundamental enabler and expression of

distinctly human life.

• It enables groups of people to function collectively as a society that adapts to the natural world and creates social reality.

Culture, Somas, and Human Development

• In order to become a functioning member of a society, a child must learn something about all or most of the dimensions of the richness and complexity of the cultural worldview within a short period of time.

• The developmental challenge of the individual is to learn to participate in and master a reasonable repertoires of these forms. This could be correlated with Erik Erikson’s model of psychosocial stages.

Culture, Somas, and Human Development

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages Cultural Development Stages

1. Trust vs. Basic Mistrust2. Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

Stage 1(PreOedipal & Oedipal Stages) - Learns language and basic repertoire of presentational symbolic forms.

3. Initiative vs. Guilt4. Industry vs. Inferiority

Stage 2 - Consolidation of symbolic skills & worldview.

5. Identity vs. Role Diffusion6. Intimacy vs. Isolation

Stage 3 - Initiation into adult roles & sexuality; Piaget’s “formal operations.”

7. Identity vs. Role Diffusion8. Intimacy vs. Isolation

Stage 4 - Consolidation, modification, & transformation of the cultural repertoire.

Society and culture can be the instrument for human development.

“The Cultural Nature of Development”

By Barbara Rogoff, Ph.D.

The Cultural Nature of Human Development

• Written by Barbara Rogoff, Ph.D.

• The book received the William James Book Award in 2005.

• The article I read was based on the address she gave after receiving this award.

The Cultural Nature of Human Development

• It is necessary to understand the cultural basis of our own lives as well as those of neighbors and distant people.

• Social address – A common perspective which equates a person’s culture to a mere one or two- word label. This categorizes them into labels and into specific boxes.

The Cultural Nature of Human Development

• She found 2 cultural patterns by which individuals learn and develop his skills: age-grading and segregation of children from community activities vs. learning through observation and collaboration in ongoing community activities events

• Individuals develop as participants in their cultural communities, engaging with others in shared endeavors and building on cultural practices of prior generations.

The Cultural Nature of Human Development

Learning through observation and collaboration in ongoing community activities events

• In this cultural pattern, the child is included in the range of community events, with learning through observing and pitching in to the ongoing activities of their cultural community

• Commonly observed in European heritage and Indigenous-heritage of North and Central America

The Cultural Nature of Human Development

• Children’s attention and learning relates to their family’s extent of familiarity with learning traditions.

• Children are expected to eventually engage in the community activities.

• This imply that culture and society encourage an individual’s development, particularly his keenness attention and ability for collaboration.

Resources:1. “Culture, Somas, and the Human Development”

Arthur Warmouth, Ph.D., Somatics Magazine-Journal, vol. XIII (no. 1) Fall-Winter 2000-01

2. “The Cultural Nature of Human Development” Barbara Rogoff, Ph.D., The General Psychologist, vol. XLII, Winter-Spring 2007

3. “Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development” William Crain, Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications (6th ed.), Upper Saddler River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN 978020581046

4. “Central Tasks of Middle Adulthood” Helen Bee; Denise Boyd, The Developing Child (12th ed.), Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN 9780205685935