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Influences of religion on culture and society
How culture influences health beliefs essay
Influences of religion on culture and society
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In the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” By Horace Miner, there are a few points that he is trying to put across. Firstly, it is sometimes difficult to collect accurate information about a culture when you do not belong to it. Not everything will be explained in great detail, which forces a person to make assumptions about what they are being shown or what they are hearing. Secondly, Americans seem to always believe everything that they are told from doctors because they have been highly respected for many generations and people learn from when they are very young that when they are sick, they must go see the doctor to feel well again. Lastly, People always believe that they cannot heal without medicine because doctors have been making people believe that medicine is the key to healing for many years. …show more content…
An example to prove this is when miner says “It is difficult to understand the natives because they are not very clear and it can only be assumed that they keep magic potions in the charm box because they want to be protected (Miner, 1956, p.2)”. Secondly, Miner is implying that Americans always look to doctors every time they have an illness, although their healing is not always successful, but Americans always want to believe that they will be saved. We are shown this in the article when Miner mentions “these ceremonies may not cure the patient but it may kill them but people still believe the medicine men (Miner, 1956, p.4)”. Since doctors have been respected for many decades because of their healing it would be hard to change the minds of individuals since it is something that they have been accustomed
Anthropologists learn about a culture through participant observation. They often experience cultural shock when encountering with different cultures. Horace Miner in his essay Body Ritual among the Nacirema wrote about the unusual rituals and beliefs of the Nacirema. He describes the Nacirema as a North American group whose rituals originated from their magical beliefs. When I first read the essay, the practices of Nacirema seems ridiculous to me. However, I was amazed when I found out that Nacirema turns out to be the word American, but spelled backward. I then reread the essay and realized that the culture hero, Notgnihsaw and the temple, latipso are also the wordplay of Washington and hospital. After all, the essay was a satirical essay
He describes the American health system and many aspects of the an American’s personal health as inhuman and uncivilized. Simply changing the way a word is spelled makes this culture seem far away and distant but in reality it is the culture in which we live every day. The article, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner makes the readers think about what they know to be true and evaluate how strange the many aspects of their lives
Human needs are similar- health, physical appearance, human body and economic resources to meet these needs. Nacirema culture bears some semblance to more civilized culture. While reading this article it seems most of the practices are similar with modern culture. A major difference is the magic, ritual and the crude method of doing things. One of the cultural practices that stood out for me is the “holy-mouth-men” ritual, which seems like what a dentist will do. I also find interesting the diagnostic ability of the diviner.
Folk medicine is an important aspect of the Appalachian region. According to Mathews, folk medicine is known in involving diseases or illnesses “which are the products of indigenous cultural development and are not explicitly derived from the conceptual framework of modern medicine” (Mathews 1). Folk or traditional medicine is found in all societies, throughout in history, and predates innovation of modern medicine. Folk medicine also explains roles for “indigenous practitioners”(1) who treat and restore health for the individual and community. Folk medicine beliefs and practices serve for the treatment and prevention of aliments and are resistant to change even when the cultural tradition may have gone extinct.
The Nacirema’s roots originate from North America. They are depicted as a group of individuals whose rituals revolve around the human body. The tribe values substances and the help of practitioners in their community to help their bodies recover.
Worldview is the lens through which someone views their life and interprets the world around them. Our worldview is what shapes our beliefs and practices of healing. In “A Very Bad disease of the Arms” by Michael Kearney talks about his own worldview, which was scientific and materialistic compared to the Ixtepeji worldview. We expect Kearney worldview to be just that because he comes from an educated and financial stable background. On the other hand, we have the Ixtepejanos which are not privileged enough to have the background of an ideal “white man”. An anthropologist comparative method is used to find differences and similarities between cultures. Kearney wanted to know why they “could walk the same streets, abide in the same houses, eat the same foods, and yet live in such different cognitive universes”. Kearney realized that he faces each day with a sense of security knowing that he’s in control of the factors that affect him directly. In the contrary, Ixtepejanos interpret their world with harmful and lethal immaterial forces.
The article equips the reader with the tools needed to better understand other cultures, in terms of their own beliefs and rituals. Miner’s original approach does create a certain level of confusion that forces the reader to critically evaluate his purpose. “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner ultimately brings people together, by illuminating the eccentricities present in all
When comparing the healing philosophy that underpins healing practices of the indigenous tribes it’s evident that all cultures share similar beliefs.
Throughout time, mankind has persistently been seeking ways to maintain their health and to cure those that had not been so fortunate in that task. Just about everything has been experimented with as a cure for some type of illness whether physical, spiritual or mental. There has always been evidence of spiritual healing and it will continue to be an important part of any healing process, large or small. In particular, the roots of Native American Medicine men (often a woman in some cultures) may be traced back to ancient times referred to as Shaman. A special type of healer used by the Indians is referred to as a medicine man (comes from the French word medecin, meaning doctor).
In Horace Miner’s article, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, he talks about a tribe and describes their odd behavior. He tells about how the tribe performs these strange daily rituals and how their peculiarity is extreme, but in fact he is actually speaking of Americans as a whole (Miner). Miner uses this style of writing to more effectively prove his point: that Americans are ethnocentric.
Ross defines and differentiates between the terms healing and curing. She recognizes the fact that healing and curing are very intertwined and it can be hard to distinguish between the two terms. There are differences between the definitions in scholarly and general settings. She references an ethnographic study of healing versus curing conducted by anthropologists Andrew Strathern and Pamela Stewart in 1999 with native groups in New Guinea. The results of the study looked at how energy used by the different types of tribal healers to either cure or heal a patient. Eastern medicine focuses on how energy interacts with the healing process in connection within the mind. Whereas Western medicine is focused on the mind and the body separately. The practice is considered a holistic approach to finding cures. According to Ross (2013), healing is more a therapeutic process targeting the whole body and specific illness including emotional, mental, and social aspects in the treatment. The act of curing is a pragmatic approach that focuses on removing the problem all together. The life experiences of a person playing into how well certain treatments will heal or cure what is ailing them. These aspects can not be defined with textbook definitions. The interaction that the healing process has with energy is a variable in the success rate. Uncontrolled emotions can have a greater impact on the inside the body than a person can realize. The exploration of energy interaction within the body can be used for greater analysis of health care systems. (21-22). Are Western healthcare facilities purposely “curing” patients just so that they return are few years later? Is Western Medicine built upon a negative feedback loop? The terminolo...
In the book The Spirit Catches you and you Fall Down, ethnocentrism can also be seen. Throughout the book the family and the doctors have different ideas of medicine/healing techniques are often disagreed on. It’s important for the doctor to see that biomedicine has its own intentions of saving patient through standard procedures and beliefs. Understanding those terms will shed some light on the culture of the patient, which has their own intentions, beliefs, and rules as well. Breaking down ethnocentrism to find an agreement is a good goal to accomplish in order have successful prognosis and healing. In addition, shedding the ethnocentrism will allow the doctors to see the different cultural beliefs and not judge right away. Although, some cultural remedies may not always work, it’s wrong for people to have the mindset of ethnocentrism without even considering their beliefs first.
Anderson et al. (2010) viewed the healing setting as shared beliefs between the client and the practitioner about what healing means (p. 148). They state “the setting in which a treatment occurs imbues the process with power and prestige while simultaneously reminding the participants of the predominant cultural beliefs regarding effective care” (p. 148). In this sense, whatever is acceptable treatment within a specific culture is valid so long as patients believe in the treatment. Thus, what happens in...
Cultural competence is a skill essential to acquire for healthcare providers, especially nurses. Cooperating effectively and understanding individuals with different backgrounds and traditions enhances the quality of health care provided by hospitals and other medical facilities. One of the many cultures that nurses and other health care providers encounter is the American Indian or Native American culture. There are hundreds of different American Indian Tribes, but their beliefs and values only differ slightly. The culture itself embodies nature. To American Indians, “The Earth is considered to be a living organism- the body of a higher individual, with a will and desire to be well. The Earth is periodically healthy and less healthy, just as human beings are” (Spector, 2009, p. 208). This is why their way of healing and symbolic items are holistic and from nature.
Certain religious groups reject westernized medicine, like the Amish. Yet, for the most part most religions allow their medicinal practices to work in tandem with westernized medicine. For example, First Nations people tend to have a very holistic view when it comes to their surroundings and medicine. Aboriginal traditional approaches to health and wellness include the use of sacred herbs like sage or tobacco and traditional healers/medicine (pg. 5, Singh, 2009). However, they will not reject help from professionally trained doctors and medical staff. Much like other religions, First Nations put a strong emphasis on family/community. Consensus or decision-making is fairly common for them. A practitioner or medical staff member must remember to respect ceremonial objects such as tobacco or traditional blankets, include immediate family members when making a treatment decision, and to accommodate spiritual practices. Normally, organ donation is accepted UNLESS the organ is being removed from someone who is not deceased. First Nations’ believe that their bo...