Essential Outcomes: Perspective and Experience, Culture Shock

Culture Shock
Article Review Exercise
“Lessons from the Field” by George Gmelch

1. What is culture shock?
Culture shock is a feeling that people get when they are attempting to assimilate into a culture. It is usually accompanied by feelings of anxiety and perhaps even physiological symptoms.



2. What are some specific examples in this article of encounters or events where culture shock became evident?
Culture shock became evident when the visiting students first came into contact with issues such as race, gender, and wealth.
When they first arrive on Barbados, the students are कल्तुरे taken aback by the conditions the natives are living in. They become reclusive in response to the lack of privacy. They become overly conscious of their skin color. They feel shy about spending money.





3. How did those examples and culture shock in general affect the students doing research in Barbados?
The students began, at first, to withdraw a bit from the society. However, as time went on they were able to use their unfamiliarity with the culture to pick up on subtle cultural customs.





4. Did they experience reverse culture shock? What are some examples?
Reverse culture shock is definitely present in this article. When the students go back to the US they find themselves appalled at the excess in the American lifestyle. They also feel that people in the US are extremely hurried, and the students begin to adopt a slower, more peaceful lifestyle.





5. In what ways can culture shock and reverse culture shock be considered productive and beneficial?
Culture shock and reverse culture shock both allow one to gain a bit of perspective, whether it is an insight into one's own culture or another's। When the students in Barbados are confronted with culture shock they become more aware of their own customs and are, thus, able to easier identify corresponding customs in another culture.
Culture shock can also help create a better understanding between cultures. When the students experience reverse culture shock they are beginning to better understand why the natives of Barbados are happy living a life that most Americans would consider horrible.






6. What do your responses above reveal about the power of culture?
Culture can not only affect our actions, but it can also pervade the mind, controlling the way we think or what we might consider to be important. Culture is, in many ways, a force that moves its way through individuals, and it is up to the individuals whether they want to fight against that force or just go with it.
When looking at culture shock it becomes clear that culture can affect someone individually in the same way that it can affect any group. No matter what, culture tends to grip people, daring them to either accept the culture or find a way out of it.

Essential Outcomes: Enculturation

Ethnographic Exercise—Methodology

1. Think of a local subject or event you’d like to attain a deeper understanding of. What is your subject or event?
Deaf Culture. More specifically, the interaction of deaf people with hearing people.

2. Identify a site where you can witness actions and objects associated with the subject or event you’ve chosen. Where is your site?
Deaf Coffee Social - Held inside a Starbucks.


3. Once you are at the site, describe the physical environment (spatial elements, objects, colors, symbols, etc.).
There isn't much to say about the physical appearance of the place since, like most Starbucks, this place was decorated in warm, vibrant colors with chairs of varying degrees of comfort.
Those attending the social clustered in the corner. One could easily pick out the ASL students from the seasoned signers, who signed easily in a more relaxed manner.


4. Next, describe the actions you observe.
Everyone sat close together, and as more people showed up, they simply latched onto the original circles instead of forming their own. When the space did run out, people stayed close to the group. There was also a slight separation in the circles as well. The students clustered in clumps within the group, while the deaf and the more proficient signers clustered in other parts of the group.


5. Did you hear people talking to each other? What were they saying related to your subject?

Since the entire event was centered on relaxed interaction, there was very little verbal reference to the subject. However, it was interesting to note the changes in conversation going from two deaf people to a deaf person and a hearing person. Usually the conversation was more tentative on the student’s part while the deaf person did their best to communicate their point. While interacting with another deaf person there was, as expected, a faster conversation as well as a lot more humor involved in the conversation.


6. Participate (if possible) in the events transpiring and note what you personally experienced.
Not all deaf people took the same approach, and some simply stuck to interacting with other deaf people. The hearing gentleman sitting next to me was particularly helpful and did his best to translate when needed and helped all the students by teaching them new signs.


7. Think of a question you could ask those around you to increase your clarity about what is transpiring. What is your question?

The question I asked of most people was what they thought of the local Deaf community in comparison with Deaf communities elsewhere.


8. Now ask your question to at least 3 people and record their responses below:
The first person I asked was the helpful gentleman I spoke of before. He said that the Deaf community in the Sacramento area was small in comparison to other places, but that he felt welcome as a hearing person in the Deaf community.

Next I asked this man’s wife who is very hard of hearing. She expressed the same sentiment, but pointed out that though they were welcome in the Deaf community, they were by no means a part of it. They were treated kindly, but not like one of the group.

Lastly I asked another Deaf person that I was talking to. He said he felt that the community, though small, was tightly knit. He had rarely had troubles or heard of anyone having troubles within the community.


9. What significant aspects of the event or subject you chose are revealed in the descriptions and statements above?
It is quite apparent that there is a strong sense of in-group and out-group within the Deaf community. Though the community is very welcoming to outsiders and anyone wanting to learn about their culture, they are not quick to assimilate. Some deaf people can be very warm and helpful, but it is still apparent that the distinction exists. For some it takes years and years to be totally accepted into the deaf community. For others, and this is a rare few, it could be a matter of days or months. Nevertheless, there was not even an inkling of animosity between those who were members of the Deaf community and those who were not.


10. After trying it out just a bit, how would you evaluate the ethnographic method?

It was certainly an interesting experience, but kind of fun. The process was a tad more challenging than I expected. It is hard trying to analyze a culture and, at the same time, trying to better understand it while being a part of it.

Essential Outcome: Concept of Culture

Culture is, according to Spradley, "the learned and shared knowledge that people use to generate behavior and interpret experience (2)."
However, culture seems to be far more than that. It is not just knowledge, but actions and thoughts that are shared. The process seems to be cyclical, passed on from one generation to the next, as well as neverending. A person continues to learn and be shaped by culture throughout his or her lifetime.
An example of a cultural event is the act of eating. In Indian, specifically Hindu culture, eating is a serious business First of all, you do not use your left hand to eat. EVER. You eat only with your right hand, and you use your left hand to serve yourself. You should eat with your hands, making sure to keep all but your fingetips clean. Usually meals are taken sitting on the floor and your feet should never be pointed towards your food or anyone else's food. Also, no one starts serving themselves or eating until either the eldest man or woman present has been served and has started eating. Once the eating has begun, the room usually is filled with conversation. After the meal, whoever it was that prepared the meal is the one that takes care of the dishes. The clean up, however, is usually assisted by the younger children.
Most of this is obviously explicit culture, however, many of these customs get carried over into tacit culture. For example, many Indians feel more comfortable sitting on the ground as opposed to using a chair or a bench. These practices are taught to children from a very young age. I have seen parents slap away the left hand of a baby, teaching the child to use his or her right hand instead. By repetitivly reminding a child to adhere to the customs described above, the customs become ingrained into the child's regular behavior well into adulthood.
There is an idea of hygiene and cleanliness behind these customs. There is also the everpresent aspect of respect towards your elders. There is a strong belief in Indian culture, that with old age comes wisdom wisdom and privilege. Thus this idea is carried over to meal times as well. There is also the idea of communal living which is apparent in the importance put upon mealtime conversations.
Hindu's believe that the presence of god is almost everywhere. This is where the idea that pointing your feet toward food is disprespectful, since the food holds blessing of god.
I don't know that there are any real cultural artifacts here. There is nothing particularly significant about the plates used, through traditionally a banana leaf was, and sometimes is, used.
Many different aspects of Hindu and Indian culture manifest themselves at meal times. Their values and beliefs control their actions and the way their view what is acceptable and what is not. This culture is imprinted on children from a young age, and the customs are passed on through the generations.