What is Culture, and How is it Socially Transmitted? (Essay Sample)

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What is Culture, and How is it Socially Transmitted?
Most people think of Africa, Asia, and the Amazon when they think of culture. Although many communities in these regions continue to adhere to their traditional practices, beliefs, and value systems, culture can be found everywhere. Culture is a way of life that can be seen in how people socialize, what they eat, wear, what they believe in, and how they communicate. It reconnects communities and societies with their identity, origin, and traditional values. As a result, it can be defined as a set of practices and belief systems that are specific to a community or society and are passed down from generation to generation through art, literature, social practices, or other forms of media. This transmission takes place through enculturation and acculturation, and it occurs from one group, generation, or community to another. This paper defines culture as a set of beliefs, practices, and behaviors that people pass down through generations within their own communities or to other communities.
When people socialize within their own society or with societies from other regions, they pass on their culture. As a result, cultural transmission occurs when members of a single society socialize with one another and exchange ideas, beliefs, and vocabulary. Enculturation refers to the process of socialization within a confined society and the transmission of behaviors, beliefs, and practices (Taylor and Thoth 448). Enculturation occurs when people of different ages, social classes, and genders socialize with one another and teach one another what, how, when, and where to eat, dress, pray, behave, speak, or do something else that defines that society. Transmission can occur vertically between parents and children, horizontally between people of the same age group, or obliquely between generations (Spencer-Oatey and Franklin 2). This localized transmission primarily transmits knowledge, morals, principles, custom laws, and values. For example, in African societies where circumcision is practiced as a rite of passage, such as the Maasai and the Kikuyu, the community assigns uncles to look after their nephews once they have gone through the physical process of circumcision. They teach them what to believe in, how to dress, who to socialize with, and how to address women and people of all ages. As a result, a society transmits culture within itself when members socialize and assimilate new behaviors, clothing styles, cuisine, and belief systems as parents teach their children, peers teach each other, and the elderly pass on generational knowledge to the young.
People from various societies frequently interact in various social settings, immigrate to new locations, or outright mimic or copy from other societies. Such people exchange, copy, mimic, or assimilate previously unknown behaviors, ideas, dress codes, behaviors, or belief systems. Acculturation is the process by which artifacts, literature, folklore, or other media forms are integrated, assimilate, separated, and marginalized to form a new culture unique to the individual (Taylor and Thoth 450). People record and interpret cultural elements differently as a result of their diverse backgrounds. As a result, they either assimilate existing culture or create a new one that is tailored to their beliefs, principles, and worldviews (Hallowell 35). For example, African immigrants to America adopt new dress codes that correspond to the country's cold weather. In such a democratic, open-minded, and advanced society, they also