How to write a nursing essay on Foundations of Culture

What is culture?

Culture is a complex concept that requires proper analysis to understand. Culture has numerous definitions. It is the social behavior, customs, and beliefs of a particular population in the society (Steinmetz, 2018). It encompasses the way of life of a certain population, including institutions, beliefs, and arts passed from one generation to another. It is the way of life of a certain population. Cultural aspects include norms, languages, festivals, rituals, ceremonies, dressing, holidays, pastimes, religion, food, fashion, architecture, craft, traditional economy, sexual orientation, language, ethnicity, income, and race (Tippet, 2019). The culture has various common or basic principles. Culture is learned and shared based on symbols, integrated, and dynamic. Culture helps in shaping our believes and personal behaviors as it shapes humanity in general. All cultures provide for the social, emotional, and physical needs of a particular population. All individuals are required to adhere to their culture. Non-adherence may result in someone being regarded as an outcast. In certain communities, non-adherence could lead to punishments or the individual being barred or chased from the community.

Diversity iceberg

The diversity iceberg is a basic model utilized to understand the various cultural domains or characteristics. Diversity from a cultural perspective is the quality or practice of involving or including individuals from various ethnic and social backgrounds and of different physical characteristics such as age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and language (Kloss, 2019). The iceberg model was created by an American writer known as Ernest Hemingway. The iceberg enables individuals to remember the significance of looking deeper than the surface to better understand the present and past events. The diversity iceberg allows one to focus on the visible cultural aspects of an individual and the invisible or the less visible aspects. The less visible aspects of culture may also greatly impact human behavior, emotions, and beliefs.

The diversity iceberg is a model to represent their culture or personal identity. The diversity iceberg has two parts: the upper and lower parts. The upper part is perceived as above the waterline and the lower below (Kloss, 2019). The upper part symbolizes an individual’s cultural characteristics visible to the naked eye. These aspects can be identified by simply looking at individuals and their behavior. These aspects include height, eye color, race or skin color, gender, among others. The lower part of the iceberg encompasses cultural aspects that are less visible or not visible. One will need to question or relate with an individual to understand these aspects. They include values, beliefs, attitudes, perceptions. The iceberg model suggests that culture is complicated. It has aspects visible and others that can only be imagined, intuited, and/or suspected.

My Personal Diversity Iceberg

African American Male Age- middle-aged Skin color- black Actions- Language- English, Hausa, Yoruba Body size and shape- tall and athletic Physical traits- kind

Water level Education level-  Student Sexual orientation- Heterosexual Religion- Catholic Beliefs-  beliefs that religion is a powerful force Original nationality- Eastern Nigeria Talents- swimming, playing football Work- a student Literacy- high level of literacy Learning styles- Visual, writing, and reading. Values- beliefs in working hard to survive in the modern world

Part 2

Who Am I and What Is My Cultural Identity

I am a male of African American origin. The African American group is also referred to as the Black Americans. This is an ethnic group consisting of Americans with total or partial ancestry from the black racial groups in Africa (Jamison et al., 2019). I am identified with my nation of origin. My originality is from Eastern Nigeria. Eastern Nigeria has its capital in Enugu and the second capital in Umuahia. The region was divided into the South Eastern state and the East Central state. I come from the East-central state.

I can speak numerous languages. My primary communication language is English. English is a Germanic language originally spoken by early medieval England inhabitants. The language is widely spoken in my country of origin. English was my second language. My first is the Yoruba language. Most individuals speak the language from eastern Nigeria. Yoruba is a Niger-Congo language related to Igbo, Ishan, Edo, and igala, among others. The language is spoken in many countries in western and central Africa. I can also speak the Hausa language. This language is a member of the Afro-Asiatic language family and widely spoken in eastern Nigeria. My common language of communication as a black African American is English.

I am a middle-aged individual. I am 27 years old. I am currently an undergraduate student at an International University in the United States of America. I left my country of origin to seek education in the States. I am heterosexual. I believe in heterosexual marriages. However, I try not to judge other individuals with other sexual orientations other than heterosexual. I have a high literacy level. I have passed through primary, secondary, and tertiary education. I have a diverse knowledge base on diverse fields, including health and politics. I am black, tall, and well built. I have an athletic body. I am not overweight or obese. I try to keep my weight in check. I engage in numerous physical activities and exercises. Firstly I love swimming and playing soccer. Additionally, I also engage in yoga and weight lifting. I believe in a healthy body to reduce my risk of getting medical conditions and diseases like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.

I am a Christian and worship in the Catholic Church. I believe in the resurrection of Christ. I also believe in baptism and Holy Communion. I believe that God has a divine plan for humankind. I believe in physical death and that when I die, there will be a day of judgment where we will be judged at the same time. This will determine our fate; whether we live our afterlife in heaven or hell.

I have various values in life. Firstly, my personal value is working hard to succeed in the current harsh world characterized by endless discrimination and racial segregation. My aim is to attain the highest level of education and live a comfortable life. I want to start and manage a successful business. I believe in equality. I found it excruciating when I witnessed individuals missing various opportunities in life due to their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and other defining personal characteristics.

I regard myself to be from the middle socioeconomic class. I have the capability to access various social and health services. I can afford basic housing, shelter, and healthy food. I am also educated and almost graduating. I can access quality basic healthcare services because I have insurance cover. I have associated well with other individuals from diverse cultural settings. I try to respect other individuals’ views and beliefs as it is the basis for harmonious co-existent. I experience cultural shock sometimes, but I try not to judge and accommodate the individuals.

My worldview is very specific. I believe in a world of equality. One’s ethnic and racial characteristics should not determine where they live, stay or what they do. All individuals from diverse cultural settings should have equal opportunities. I also believe in a religious society. Regardless of our individual religions, all individuals should be identified to a particular religion. The world is full of social and health consequences, and individuals need a place to seek comfort and refuge. Religion can provide a platform for refuge and comfort in the current difficult times. Finally, all individuals should work hard to survive in the current world characterized by almost inevitable political and economic impacts. The economy is on the rise, and working hard can be the only way to match the economic terrain.

Conclusion

Culture is a very fundamental aspect of our lives. Every individual has cultural beliefs and values they cling to. Culture can affect our social behaviors and values. To understand one’s culture, we should not only look at the cultural elements visible to our eyes. There are deeply rooted cultural values that one cannot see and can only establish after interacting with an individual for a long-time.  We should interact with others and ask them about their culture to have a clear picture.  Understanding the culture of an individual can improve  personal relationships. It also reduces conflicts between us. We should try to accommodate other individuals’ cultures and avoid being judgemental.

References

Jamison, A. M., Quinn, S. C., & Freimuth, V. S. (2019). “You don’t trust a government vaccine”: Narratives of institutional trust and influenza vaccination among African American and white adults. Social Science & Medicine, 221, 87-94.

Kloss, R. (2019). Adding value to project management–The magic triangle meets the “cultural” iceberg. In Practical Wisdom and Diversity (pp. 205-218). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.

Steinmetz, G. (2018). Introduction: Culture and the state. In-State/culture (pp. 1-50). Cornell University Press.

Tippett, M. (2019). Making Culture. University of Toronto Press.

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