6th World Congress of the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry (WACP2022)

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS 

15 - 17 September 2022 

pre-conference day 14 September 2022

What do we mean by 'culture'?

(draft - ideas...)

 

Individual
|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------ mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

Group

As individuals we are socialised into one or more cultures, depending upon our formative years, parenting and guardianship. Individual capacities and opportunities to learn and life experiences all influence a person's self-identity, their relationship to others and the society in which they reside (when not excluded). A key concept here is salience not just for the person, but the people close to them and the community. Reality can be defined individually, and socially; but it is mediated and ultimately negotiated and determined (often legally) elsewhere. This is why education is so important (to all the literacies?), to all in realising their potential. This begins in infancy and early childhood and must be protected.

A scientific perspective, reference and emphasis on evidence at the expense of personal experience. An approach that might be characterised and described as reductionist. It may see the individual in a mechanistic way, as 'broken' with a deficit, often defined in neurobiochemical and increasingly genetic terms that may not be fully understood by the individual concerned. 'Space' here can be interpreted literally; as ability to respire, to live in - shelter, how much space is 'my space' to live in? Personal recognition, status and hence identity, may be accorded and prioritised by papers I possess, the borders proximate to and bounding my current location and the history (evidence) of my being here.

Sociologically speaking, culture and society are discrete concepts. Cultures vary markedly across the globe, and this richness is to be celebrated. It is here we try to 'sense-make' our own context and that of others and the 'world' - if the opportunities are afforded to us (the social determinants of health are realised). Culture is noisy. Its silence can be deafening. Its vibrancy can be joyous, exemplify humanity at its best. Its modes and mediums of communication can also be subverted and weaponised. COVID-19 continues to reveal the value and values of social capital, local community, belonging and relationships, cooperation and our interdependence.

Culture can also refer to the capacity of an individual and society to not only exercise choice, but the range of choices available, access in a cognitive and physical sense. The political culture can profoundly influence freedom, autonomy and self-expression that an individual may represent through several identities and social roles. The combination of these identities and roles contribute to 'make' them the 'person' they are (or should be). Were an individual is vulnerable the culture 'here' also determines the extent of participation socio-economically,  especially when the individual is alone, in poor health and cannot self-advocate. Societies and cultures need security, law and justice to ensure no one is left behind.

 

My source: twitter @wacp06