Cross-cultural perspectives in child abuse and neglect

The rapid development of scientific knowledge pertaining to the identification, treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect during the last 30 years has not been followed by a parallel consideration of the significance of the concept of culture. The gradual expansion of a ‘syndrome’, recognized by a medical doctor in the US, to a world phenomenon, regardless of ethnicity, colour, language or religion is calling for careful consideration of the significance of a cross-cultural dimension. This involves issues of definition, research priorities and methodological questions that take into account both ethnic and cultural variations as well as a whole range of different child protection systems. Such an approach is ultimately based on the view that vulnerability depends to a large degree on the cultural context. International data suggest that child maltreatment is the product of a complex interaction of parental characteristics and the social and cultural conditions in which they exist. The value placed on children, on different categories of vulnerable children, on child-rearing practices (including views on physical punishment and the informal social sanctions regarding children and family organization and functioning) are central to the study of the phenomenon within each specific culture. As child abuse and neglect awareness expands across geographical, ideological and cultural barriers, we need not only to promote cross-cultural awareness but at the same time provide competence by incorporating the significance of a cultural dimension into research, theory and practice.     

Uses and abuses of culture: mestizaje in the era of multiculturalism

ABSTRACT

In this article, I analyse how intercultural ideas, practices and policies inform Mexico’s current racial formation, and how racial categories and meanings are shaped under neoliberalism and the politics of recognition. I argue that the uncritical use of cultural and ethnic differences as the central focus of interculturalism reifies and reproduces the preoccupation with culture and ethnic differences characteristic of the racial project of mestizaje that held sway for most of the twentieth century. This focus on difference has silenced a much-needed discussion about how neither interculturalism nor multiculturalism has changed existing racial hierarchies and privileges nor curtailed the effects of racism and racial injustice on indigenous people and their communities.     

湘西苗族鼓舞:奏响苗族历史的音韵

湘西苗族鼓舞作为第一批国家级非物质文化遗产项目,具有悠久的历史,凝聚了苗族人民的智慧,具有独特的艺术形式与无穷的魅力。     

Ethnic conflict without ethnic groups: a study in pure sociology1

Despite growing awareness of the limitations of group‐level analyses in ethnic studies, research on ethnic conflict has paid virtually no systematic attention to variation at the individual or micro level. Addressing that gap, the present paper draws upon data from interviews conducted with members of two broadly‐defined categories recently arrived in the Republic of Ireland, Muslims and Nigerians. Results indicate that while members of both immigrant categories experience a good deal of ethnic conflict or hostility, such conflict is rarely collective and invariably varies across individuals. The research data are consistent with Donald Black's theory of moralism. Black's theory, based on his theoretical system known as pure sociology, predicts that ethnic hostility increases with the social inferiority and cultural distance of the immigrant, and that higher status immigrants are more assertive in responding to hostility, though they experience less of it (the status paradox).     

Creation of culturally responsive classrooms: teachers’ conceptualization of a new rationale for cultural responsiveness and management of diversity in Hong Kong secondary schools

Presently, there are a growing number of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong schools. This article examines teachers’ views of the cross-cultural experience of ethnic minority students, their influence on the performance of these students, and how the diverse learning needs of these students are being addressed. Qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 32 teachers from three secondary schools. This study shows that teachers struggle to conceptualize a new rationale for responding to cultural diversity. They develop a sense of intercultural sensitivity, promote cultural responsiveness to diversity, and strengthen the home–school connection. This article argues that, like students, teachers simultaneously engage in a cross-cultural process through which they learn the culture of ethnic minority students, relearn their own culture and reexamine the relevant rationale underlying cultural responsiveness. Finally, a framework for the creation of culturally responsive classrooms, based upon the teachers’ new rationale of cultural responsiveness, is proposed.     

Black Immigrants in the United States and the "Cultural Narratives" of Ethnicity

This article argues that social science representations of post-1965 Black immigrants in the United States employ the concept of "ethnicity" in ways that reinforce the racialist myth of Black (American) cultural inferiority. Specifically, the discursive use of Black immigrant "ethnic" and "cultural distinctiveness," while admittedly reflecting an important recognition of the heterogeneity of the United States Black populations, is in fact predicated upon a repackaged "culture of poverty" discourse that serves to reaffirm the overarching racial order. In a discussion of the theoretical and historical development of the concept, I show how the current discourse of "ethnic distinctiveness" perpetuates a form of racism under a theory that denies the relevance of race while it continuously recodes the biological notions of race as "culture." Thus, Black immigrant distinctiveness, when presented through the prism of the cultural narratives of ethnicity, allows for the perpetuation of a "cultural racism" that adversely affects all Blacks in this country. I therefore call for a rejection of ethnicity theory as it is currently conceptualized and suggest the need to ground theories of Black distinctiveness within analyses of power relations and ongoing practices of racial subjugation.     

Perceived discrimination,traditional practices,and depressive symptoms among American Indians in the upper midwest

American Indian adults are thought to experience significant depressive symptoms at rates several times higher than adults in the general population, yet we know very little about factors associated with depressive symptoms among this under studied group. Many researchers have argued that depressive symptoms are associated with conflicts between American Indian traditional cultural values, practices, and beliefs and those of the majority culture. This report, based on a sample 287 American Indian adults from the upper Midwest, takes into account two measures of cultural effects: perceived discrimination, as one indicator of culture conflict, and traditional practices, as a measure of cultural identification. The results indicate that discrimination is strongly associated with depressive symptoms among American Indian adults and that engaging in traditional practices is negatively related to depressive symptoms. Moreover, interaction effects between perceived discrimination and traditional practices indicate that engaging in traditional practices buffers the negative effects of discrimination among those who regularly participate in them.     

Framing Black women: The utility of knowledge

This article reviews the literature on the socially constructed knowledge or myths about Black women by placing it within a cultural context. I identify three domains of research within this field. The first is the cultural production of socially constructed mythologies of Black women throughout various historical epochs, which includes an analysis of books, journals, scientific/medical documents, images, and other cultural products. I focus on two primary categories of stereotypes found in the literature: 1.) the myth of pathology and primitiveness and 2.) the myth of antithetical womanhood. The second is the utility of cultural knowledge—which is to control and regulate culture and to justify and establish particular types of norms, preferences, laws, policies, and practices within society. Lastly, I will discuss the resistance culture of Black women, which developed in response to stereotypical perceptions created about them.     

Cultural production and the politics of identity: On the strategic use of ‘multiculturalism’ in two Austrian cities

This article is a résumé of the findings of an empirical study carried out by the ICCR Vienna between July 1993 and July 1994. The study investigated the images of ‘foreigners’ as members of immigrant minorities that emerge out of the interaction between the cultural administration, organizers of cultural events, cultural agents and ‘ethnic minority’ artists, and how these images and the discourse on ‘foreigners’ relates to practices of inclusion and exclusion. Specifically examined were artistic productions and initiatives of the low‐profit and non‐profit sector of theatrical and musical performances in Vienna and Graz. Qualitative interviews with the main actors were supported and enriched through non‐standardized participant observation, action research and a modest social experiment. The article argues that the Austrian variant of the discourse on ‘multiculturalism’ serves as a tool to formulate social order, whereby social inequality is transformed into cultural difference. The emancipatory dimension of culture as a way of life is used to construct homogeneous cultural ( = ’ethnic') collectives. In this construction immigrant artists serve as the representatives of the collective culture of the ‘others’.     

THE PRESENTATION OF ETHNIC AUTHENTICITY:

Ethnic entrepreneurs in American society often carve out an economic niche by means of business enterprises and cultural events that are open to the general public and showcase ethnic culture. These locations depend upon a display of the ethnic culture that is simultneously seen as "authentic" and within the bounds of cultural expectations ("Americaized"). In a society that values toleration and cross-cultural contacts, many consumers desire a unique, yet comfortable experience, given their own cultural preferences. We focus on the presentation of ethnic food in four Chinese restarants in a small southern city. Ethnic tradition continues but in the context of a continuous process of adaptation. Authenticity is not an objective criterion but is socially constructed and linked to expectations. We contrast two broad classes of Chinese restarants—consumption-oriented and connoisseur-oriented—to describe strategies by which restaurateurs fit Chinese food into market niches. We conclude by suggesting some directions for the study of public ethnic culture.     

Ethno‐Class Distinctions and Reality (TV)

This article offers a cultural‐sociological analysis of interpretations by viewers from different classes on the most popular reality show in Israel, namely, Big Brother. The findings of this study show dramatic differences in viewing practices according to class and ethnic distinctions of the viewers. Viewers from the upper socioeconomic class primarily addressed the way in which the subjects from the low socioeconomic class and marked ethnic groups appear in their eyes: that is, the processes affiliated with Othering. These ethno‐class distinctions were translated into unique viewing practices: the identification of what are called, “cult moments” or “grotesque moments.” These moments are depicted as ridiculing the “exaggerated” behavior of members of the low socioeconomic class and specific ethnic groups. Viewers from the low socioeconomic class offer more imminent (and less distant) perspectives on the Big Brother program. They relate to a broad spectrum of content that was broadcast in the program, identify with the participants from their group, criticize the judgments and the cultural hierarchies of marked group members, and describe how political anger accompanies their viewing of the reality program. The discussion section suggests the connection of these subjective interpretations and widespread cultural scenarios about class and ethnic identities.     

From "Us" to "Them": Diasporic Linkages and Identity Politics

Global diasporas-a type of social formation mediating economic, political, and cultural affairs across borders-have been a focus of globalization researchers for some time. However, up to now, little knowledge exists on how social identification affects business participation in diaspora communities and how such participation modifies social identification. This article, based on empirical research on diasporic linkages between Taiwanese transnationals and ethnic Chinese overseas, serves to illustrate a) how globalization has enhanced the practical and economic roles of diasporas, and b) how economic practices and ethnic identification interact within diasporic communities. The author argues that ethnic membership still remains contested, despite diasporas serving as flexible forms of social organization in the mediation of capital flow.     

Changing Scenarios of Tamilian Culture: Some Thoughts on the Cultural Dimensions of the Ethnic War in Sri Lanka

Although the political and economic implications of the ongoing ethnic war in Sri Lanka have come under varied scrutiny, its cultural dimensions have so far been a neglected area. Ironically, the attitude of the Tamils, the minority ethnic group to the conflict, towards their culture has been rather lukewarm vis-à-vis their concern over political and/or economic rights. This has not, however, resulted in any cultural rigidity whereby Tamil culture remained wholly immune to war conditions. On the contrary, it has been subject to a state of flux. The objective of this paper is to analyse this process of transformation. After a brief analysis of the origin of the ethnic war and the reasons for the diminished interest shown by Tamils in the state of their culture, the paper goes on to examine the nature of cultural changes. It identifies an external as well as an internal dimension in the ongoing process. Of the two, the latter reveals a higher degree of dynamism, leading to a number of changes that have either occurred or are imminent. The reasons for this dynamism and its implications are discussed. The external dimension, on the other hand, has not only failed to react favourably to internal developments but has also threatened to become the fresh breeding grounds for some of the discarded notions of the internal sector. After offering reasons for such an outcome, the paper recognises that the external dimension has its utility in the dissemination of the conflict at a global level. The paper concludes that, notwithstanding the ultimate outcome of the ethnic crisis, there is sufficient opportunity for the Tamil culture to be further strengthened based especially on the mutual contributions of the internal and external dimensions.     

Visitors to modern and contemporary art museums: towards a new sociology of ‘cultural profiles’

Sociologists traditionally focus on the power of socio‐economic variables as drivers of attendance at museums. However, this research runs the risk of a certain socio‐economic reductionism which fails to register the aesthetic dimensions of cultural consumption. To remedy this, I propose a new focus on cultural profiles beyond the prism of SES, which allows us to better interpret the role of the art museum visit in visitors' daily life. The cultural profile is defined as a set of cultural, creative and leisure preferences and activities, towards various forms of art, which classify and can be classified. I use multiple correspondence analysis to examine the nature of cultural profiles among visitors of six museums of modern and contemporary art in Belgium. Six different cultural profiles are defined, each a ‘bricolage’ of different classifying registers that structure and define practices and tastes. My approach allows us to reconcile and elaborate current interests in cultural sociology about the relationship between high versus low culture (Bourdieu), experimentation versus classicism, transgression versus conservatism and omnivores versus univores (Peterson).     

Manufacturing Naxi’s original ecological culture in contemporary China

For over a decade, original ecological (yuanshengtai原生态) has contested ethnic (minzu) as an influential framework in representing minority folk culture in Chinese official and popular media. This article explores the ideological implications of such a shift in the context of state-minority relationships. By examining Han elites’ invention of the neologism and Naxi elites’ adaptations, I argue that YST transforms local ethnic categories into a transethnic, translocal, and transnational concept, and therefore allows both the nation state and the minority groups to promote their own versions of ethnic identities. Compared to the antagonistic model between state domination and minority resistance, YST reflects a shift from minority political self-determination to cultural self-representation in the drastically changing global environments.     

The Ethnicity of Efficacy: Vietnamese Goddess Worship and the Encoding of Popular Histories

This article examines the reasons for the popularity of spirits of different ethnic backgrounds in the southern Vietnamese plain. The official approach is to induct the cults to these spirits into defence of the nation and its culture, a construct which privileges ethnic Kinh views of history. However, the 'Lady of the Realm', a goddess in the Mekong delta, illustrates the more complex ethnicity of this symbolism. Popular views denying her Khmer origins naturalise the Vietnamese colonisation of Cambodian lands. A preferred lineage in some quarters is to regard her as Cham, a view which disputes a more popular view of her as a Chinese belief, particularly influential in circles where ethnic Chinese business practices have become the norm. This play of interpretations indicates that conventional motifs of cultural resistance or survival are inadequate to understanding religious symbols which speak to the more complex identity of this region of the country.     

‘Tropicality’ and wildness: experiential travel writing and ‘making up’ of land and people in nineteenth century Assam

ABSTRACT

The paper attempts to understand the genealogy of certain ‘spatial’ and conceptual dichotomies and categories pertaining to India’s North East. Representation of the geography, climate and simultaneously the dwellers of this space since middle of nineteenth century still reverberates in contemporary knowledge production about the region. These discursive practices for more than two and a half century had been (re)organizing and inscribing space, disciplining subjectivity. This problematic of representation was selectively incorporated into the biography of the ‘modern nation state’ in India that further accentuated the dichotomies and categories. The colonial dichotomy of ‘nature/culture’ staged, performed and articulated by the practices of representation enacted geographically determined social relations. These practices of representation operate not only at the level of discourse but also at the cultural, political, geographical and psychological domains. It would be crucial not only to understand the long sequence of representation but also to understand the material effects.     

Primäre und sekundäre Effekte kultureller Praktiken

The influence of cultural factors on social inequality have been the subject of current debates in sociology, stressing “culture” as an excluding function. This article, based on a cross-cultural study, analyses if and how cultural styles and practices play a part in educational opportunities and occupational choices of young migrant women. According to this study, the young migrant women and comparable indigenous women found parallel forms of coping with the passage from school to vocational training. Due to limited chances of the groups compared, a successful transformation of life-style preferences and occupational orientation into reality can generally not be taken for granted. The qualitative approach differentiates to what extend cultural practices or rather the social values attributed to them become relevant for the course of the status passage between school and occupational training. In this way both primary and secondary effects of “culture” can be discussed.     

Culturally responsive teaching in China: instructional strategy and teachers’ attitudes

The aim of this study was to investigate the manner in which teachers facilitate the pedagogical process within a culturally diverse student population. The study focused on two primary schools in China; one located in a more fully developed city in eastern China (Case A), while the other was in a less developed city in rural western China (Case B). This allowed the researchers to compare and analyse the different instructional practices by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The findings indicate that: the teachers in Case A demonstrated overall affirmative attitudes towards ethnic minority cultures, as well as towards the students belonging to those cultures. However, the teachers also chose not to mention the specific ethnic identities and cultural differences of the students during the course of their instruction in order to ensure equal treatment for everyone. This leads to a kind of ‘cultural blindness’ in the classroom. In Case B, opinions regarding minority cultures were more varied. Compared with the teachers in Case A, more teachers in Case B found minority cultures to be inferior to the dominant Han culture. Some teachers also, counter intuitively, were of the opinion that the minority cultures were even superior. At the instructional level, school leadership developed courses on local culture and ethnicity for the teaching staff. This was done for a variety of reasons. The strongest evidence to support culturally responsive teaching in Case A does not stem from teaching and learning demands but from the necessity to pursue characteristics that make them distinctive from other schools at the same time, Case B’s practice of culturally responsive teaching was strongly supported by the government and UNICEF. Teachers in both schools indicated that they had integrated their knowledge of ethnic minority groups into the subject matter when it was necessary.     

Southern Culture and Aggravated Assault: Exploring the Generality of the Southern Cultural of Violence

Numerous studies have investigated the Southern culture of violence (SCOV). In particular, prior analyses have focused on white argument-based homicide in rural areas, a context in which the SCOV should be most prominent. Initial analyses examined dichotomous regional indicators (South/non-South) and often neglected to control for structural disadvantage. Recent research developed a summary based measure of Southern cultural influence that consolidates regional, ethnic, and religious characteristics. Unfortunately, a lack of available data on the underlying circumstances of different forms of violence has hindered our ability to assess the generality of the Southern cultural tolerance of violence. The current study addresses this limitation by using NIBRS data to assess the influence of a composite measure of Southern culture on variation in white argument-based aggravated assault. Analyses of county-level data support the generalizability of the Southern cultural influence to non-lethal forms of argument-based violence.