Cultural Relativism in Attaining

Cultural Understanding
Empowering Community
According to In Touch Community Services Providing
Counseling in the Philippines (2020). The fear,
anxiety, grief and worry during and after a stressful
situation can be overwhelming to people and the
community. But out of crisis comes an outpouring of
response to provide support for mental and well-being
of those who are vulnerable and people in the front-
lines during and after the COVID- 19 outbreak. It is
hard to fight a battle when you cannot see the enemy.
This is what makes everything so hard in this crisis
we face. The lawmakers are lost with what to do. It’s a
hit & miss situation when it comes to implementing
guidelines. But there are so many people affected with
the loss of jobs, the inability to earn a living,
dependence in government subsidy and resources,
which is so finite and scarce. So the vulnerable
population has grown even more vulnerable and now,
even the middle class are affected. As a humanitarian
responder, I know I have to do something and I know I
can do more. Quarantine is not a hindrance.

Acording to Banks et al. (2016) their are Four Primary Causes

of Cultural
Similarities
a. Biological Similarities - this means that all people in
the world have the same biological needs, namely
food, clothing, shelter and health care.
b. Necessary Pre-requisites for Social Being - society must
fulfill some requirements in order to function, such as
replacing members, teaching new
members to participate and the need to have
participation in production and
distribution.

c. Psychic Unity of Mankind - all human beings are alike

in having similar ranges of emotion - the need for love,
security and language.

d. Geographical Environment - the geographical

environment is characterized
by certain limitations such as limited food, limited
source of energy, and other delimiting factors of the
people’s environment.

According to Abulencia & Parernal et al (2016).

Every society in the world is
unique from one another. Everyone has his/her
own cultural practices, values and
interests. Each culture has its distinct features
and characteristics. This is socially
called cultural diversity. These differences in
culture can be attributed to the
following factors:

a. Though men all over the world have the same

biological needs, they differ in
ways in meeting them. Each culture adapts to its
environment.
b. Differences in geographical characteristics like
climate, topography or social
condition
c. The absence or presence of natural resources

Culture is a social construct that is

sometimes used interchangeably with
society. Though these concepts are
interrelated and interdependent since the
absence of one is also the absence of the
other, the two are not the same.
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According to Aguilar et al. (2016). A society
is a group of people bound together in a
more or less permanent association
organized for collective activity. Moreover, it
is made up of interacting individuals, using
shared cultures. Horton and Hunt define
society as a relatively independent, self-
perpetuating group of
human beings who occupy a territory,
share a culture and have the most with
their
associations within this group.

Culture is a system of shared behavior while a

society is a group of people
who share a common culture. For instance,
Filipinos are known for being
hospitable, a characteristic collective attributed
to the Filipino people. (Abulencia &
Parernal, 2016)
According to Aguilar et al. (2016). Assimilation is a foreign
culture which does not necessarily make you disloyal or less
nationalistic to your home country. As a universal being or as
global citizen as we call it now, we are and we must be
open to cultures different from ours and be interactive to any
people in as much all of us are citizens of the world.

According to Aguilar et al. (2016). Amalgamation of different

cultures in the globalized worldview all lumped together
paving the way for redefining Filipino cultural identity. How to
preserve one’s cultural heritage amidst globalization is now a
challenge posed to each and every one of us.

Cultural Universals
According to (Baleña, 2016) More often than not, culture
varies from one society to another. However, it is essential to
note that all cultures share patterns or traits that are quite
common to all societies across the globe. This is commonly
referred to as cultural universal. For instance, the use of
language as medium of communication is absolute among
societies, whether traditional or modern one. Though syntax
and language structure are starkly different from each
language,
spoken and written language has been the primary tool in
articulating oneself.

George Murdock was acknowledged as the first of his

contemporaries to recognize the existence of cultural universal
when he was studying kinship systems in different parts of
the world. He discovered that cultural universals often revolve
around basic human survival or around shared human
experience.

Ethnocentrism
According to Abulencia & Parernal (2016). Ethnocentrism
basically pertains to the belief that one’s native culture is
superior to or the most natural among other cultures. An
ethnocentric person sees and weighs another culture based
upon the values and standards of his/her own.
The word “ethnocentrism” was coined by American social
scientist William
Sumner in 1906 to provide a technical term for viewing one’s
ethnicity (ethno) in the center of all cultures (centrism). It is a
perception that arises from the fact thatcultures differ and
each culture defines reality differently. Judging another
culture
solely by the values and standard of one’s own culture.
Highly appreciating one’s own culture is good for the
oneness of a society
but criticizing or belittling another may cause conflict
between two different cultures.

There are even cases where a person imposes his/her

own culture uponanother person with intentions to
help him/her detach from what the former thinks is
an essentially inferior culture. This approach is known
as cultural imperialism, or to deliberate imposition of
one’s cultural belief on another culture. A perfect
example of such is one motive of the Spaniards in
colonizing the Philippines.

In reality, everyone has a bit of ethnocentrism; it

cannot be avoided. However a highly ethnocentric
person, when exposed to new cultures, may
experience a culture shock. He/she may find it difficult to
adapt to the new cultures and may feel severe confusion and
disturbance. Culture shock happens when a person does not
expect or accept cultural differences. Many expats and foreign
workers, like the overseas Filipino workers experience culture
shock on the first weeks or months in their new environment.

Xenocentrism
According to (Aguilar, 2016). Xenocentrism has an
opposite relative or the belief that one culture is
inferior to another. A xenocentric person usually has a
high regard for other cultures but disdains his/her
own or is embarrassed by it. Xenocentrism is evident
in many Filipino, especially those who are influenced
by other cultures. Many Filipino prefer imported
products rather than locally-made
ones, thinking that the quality is better if the product
is made abroad.

Cultural Relativism
To avoid highlighting personal biases and
assumptions in studying culture, sociologists have
endeavored to review other cultures as neither inferior
nor
superior. This method is rooted in the idea of cultural
relativism, or the practice of viewing another culture
by its own context rather than assessing it based on
the
standards of one’s own culture. (Abulencia & Parernal
2016).