The impact of culture on individual freedom and family relationships has been a subject of interest to sociologists ever since the dawn of human civilization. There is a view that while culture empowers and strengthens the family relationships, it limits the freedom of the individuals with in the family. The paper attempts to establish the view by analyzing what constitutes culture and how it impacts the individual and the family, by studying the culture of the eastern and western societies.
Culture is defined as “ a shared set of
beliefs, values and patterns of behavior common
to a group of people”. [Schermerborn,
1992] Over the years, different societies
across the globe have defined and followed different
norms, customs and traditions based on their beliefs
and values, in the process evolving themselves
as distinct communities, with distinct culture.
Culture influences how the community life and
family life are structured and how individuals
see themselves and other members within the community
and/or family. Thus culture or the value systems
in general can be said to greatly affect the family,
thereby affecting the individual as well. However,
in order to understand the nature in which it
affects the individuals and the family, an understanding
of the nature of family relationships is necessary.
A family is a group of people directly related by kinship. It may be nuclear family, extended families, or even single parenting. Pipher defines family as a place where one belongs to and is cared for regardless of health, likeability or prestige. [ Pipher, 1997] The adult members in the family are responsible for the care of their children. It may further be added that when children are taken care of by the parents or adults in the family, the parents or older members in a family are taken care by the grown up children, during their old age. Thus a family is obviously characterized by a set of beliefs, values and behaviors shared by the members of the group – a culture marked by the responsibility of one member towards the other. This implies that the family culture, which empowers and strengthen relationships among the members, sets a limit on the individual freedom and calls for commitment to shared values and responsibility.
It is a well-accepted fact that the Eastern societies
are characterized by strong and powerful family
culture, where as the family institution in the
West has changed over the years, family values
losing significance over individual fulfillment.
The culture of the West, particularly that of
the United States, place great emphasis on individualism
and individual achievement, where as that of the
East like in China, Japan etc, the culture is
signified by collectivism and focus on group relationships.
[Marsella. et al, 1985] This
cultural difference of the west and east are perceptible
in the family relationships and the level of individual
freedom in both the regions.
American culture is said to be “at war with families” and is increasingly leading to a greater number of dysfunctional families. However the liberal society uphold individual freedom, to such levels as unseen in any other developed or developing country. It is in fact the Western or American cultural emphasis on individualism – individual freedom and achievement – that has led to the disintegration of the family system. Pipher observes that in American culture families are viewed as getting in the way of individual fulfillment. Thus American culture promotes, individual freedom and fulfillment at the expense of integrated and strong family relationship.
Now let us examine the cultural emphasis of the East and its impact on the family relationships and individual freedom. In definite contrast to the Western emphasis on the individual, in Asian countries like Japan, China, and India, collectivist societies prevail. The family and organizations of religion, employment etc. is considered the core social units. Duty and obligation or responsibility towards strengthening family ties ensuring supportive relationships is regarded as more important than individual freedom and fulfillment. This cultural emphasis of the Eastern societies on collectivism and group relationship, has led to strong and powerful family and social ties; and individual rights, freedom and achievement are considered secondary to family, community and religious choices. In fact, individualism is viewed rather negatively in Eastern culture. In these cultures, personal goals are subordinate to family goals and a high degree of disciple and commitment of the individual is valued. Thus while in the Eastern culture, the family relationships are strong, the individual’s freedom is restricted. |