Meaning and characteristics of culture

Social Studies J.S.S 1 Second Term

WEEK 1

Meaning and characteristics of culture

Performance Objectives

Students should be able to:

      1. Define culture.

      2. State some related concept in culture     

Content

Meaning of culture

Culture is referred to as the total way of life of the people. It includes people's beliefs, their way of worship, their arts and crafts, language, religion, dressing, the way of thinking, the tools they make, the way they dance, greeting, eating habits, the technology they develop and the various institutions they set up to achieve societal goals. A society can have different cultures. In a rural environment, the culture is homogenous while in an urban area, the culture is heterogeneous.

 

The culture of Nigeria is shaped by Nigeria's multiple ethnic groups. The country has 527 languages, seven of them are extinct. Nigeria also has over 1150 dialects and ethnic groups. The six largest ethnic groups are the Hausa and Fulani in the north, the Igbo in the south-east, and the Yoruba predominate in the south-west. Efik - Ibibio and Ijaw of the south-south. The Edo people are most frequent in the region between Yorubaland and Igboland. Many of the Edo's tend to be Christian. This group is followed by the Ibibio/Annang/Efik people of the coastal south southern Nigeria and the Ijaw of the Niger Delta. Nigeria's other ethnic group, sometimes called 'minorities' are found throughout the country but especially in the north and the middle belt. The traditionally nomadic Fulani can be found all over West and Central Africa. The Fulani and the Hausa are predominantly Muslim while the Igbo are predominantly Christian and so are the Efik, Ibibio, and Annang people. The Yoruba are equally likely to be either Christian or Muslim. Indigenous religious practices remain important to all of Nigeria's ethnic groups, and frequently these beliefs are blended with Christian beliefs, a practice known as syncretism.

 

Concepts in culture

 

1. Acculturation: This is the process of adopting the culture of other countries in one’s country.

 

2. Enculturation: This is the process of learning our own culture. Where the culture that is currently established teaches an individual the accepted norms and values of the culture or society where the individual lives.

 

3. Cultural influence: This means historical, geographical and familial factors that affect assessment and intervention processes.

 

4. Cultural alternatives: This is the type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures.

 

5. Cultural consciousness: This can be defined as the process of developing awareness of culture in the self, which can result in expanding understandings of culture and developing deeper cultural knowledge about other individuals and contexts.

 

6. Cultural universals: This is an element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all human cultures worldwide.