Socialisation &Feral Children

Summary

In this lecture we learned about socialisation and Wild or Feral children. The class started off with a question asking what we believed feral children were and what we thought socialisation consisted of. It seemed apparent that about half of the class were aware of what feral children were with the majority having an idea of what socialisation is. To explain to the class fully we were more than told what the meaning was but also shown videos to show the extent of the meaning. We learned that feral children we raised with no or minimal human interaction which resulted in them growing up basically alienated from human culture or lacking in socialisation skills.
The video clips we watched showed harrowing examples of stories about feral children. For instance Oxana a girl from the Ukraine who lived for years with a pack of wild dog, the video clip showed her on all fours acting like a dog. We also learned of girl called Genie who was held captive alone in a dark room from the age of 1 to 13 by her father. She rarely saw other human beings and was spoon fed soft food which she could barely survive on. When she was discovered she could not walk, talk or stand up and was not toilet trained. We then discussed how once she was rescued how she struggled to adapt to socialisation and now lives in sheltered accommodation. There were numerous other examples given with the authenticity of some open to debate but all came back to the same point that people need socialisation to learn how to be human
The reason for showing us these video clips and giving us written example was to show us how important socialisation is in human development and the effects a lack of socialisation has on people. It was pointed out that for humans to learn socialisation skill they need to learn from others be it family, school or peer groups all of which teach us how to behave in different aspects of our lives

My opinion
I found this topic very interesting as it is something that everyone can relate to as we all have learned socialisation skill throughout or live with each person having learned slight differences. Everyone seems to notice people’s differences, things like their attitude towards food or the clothes they wear have all being influenced by socialisation. I found a heading on the Guardian website “Male and female ability differences down to socialisation, not genetics” i believe that this has merit behind it as male and females tend to have different socialisation experiences when growing up which shapes their future self. To give an example of this if a girl spends her childhood growing up with her father and brother without any real female influence she will most likely grow into what i would call a tomboy who likes cars and sport not makeup and shopping.
I found the use of feral children to emphasis the effect a lack of human interaction has on the development of people’s socialisation skill a particularly effective approach. It gives a clear view to the extreme difference between people like us who have all had the benefit of socialisation and those who have not. To see a girl act like a dog because she lived with them shows that humans need to learn socialisation skill from somewhere, that were not like the majority of animals out there who have an ability to learn from instinct. We seem to mimic whatever we see from a very young age, without doing this we will remain helpless and unable to survive. We consider ourselves to be the most intelligent species on the planet but if we didn’t learn from socialisation we could possible end up like the boy in the Hen House play by Frank McGuinness pecking for food from the ground. What I have taken from this topic is that all humans have to potential to be civilised and self-reliant but without the influences of socialisation we would possibly be the weakest members of the animal kingdom.

Chinese Guest Lecture

Summary

On the 14th of February we were given an indebt insight to the Peoples Republic of China from the perspective of Li Yanan with regard to tradition, culture and lifestyle. Li Yanan explained how important family and the family name is which is emphasised by the fact that the family name precedes the given name. She give us some facts about China, how it resembles a chicken on a map and is often referred to as a rooster. China is 9.6 million sq kilometres, the population is 1.34 billion making china the world's most populous country despite the introduction of the one child policy which limits couples to having one child. Han Chinese make up 92% of the population with 55 ethnic minority groups making up the reminder. The capital is Beijing however shanghai is the most densely populated city and is considered Chinas business centre. Mandarin is the main language spoken with Cantonese second, there are many other local dialects and minority languages spoken which are all mutually intelligible. There are a number of different religions like Atheist, Christian, Islamism, Buddhism being the most popular and Taoist being the only religion that originated from china. The currency used is the Renminbi with Yuan the name for the base units of Renminbi.
The Chinese zodiac relates each year to an animal through a 12 year cycle, and follows a lunar calendar. The Chinese new year varies with each year with regard our calendar year, but is always on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. It is the biggest festival of the year which is a time for family gathering with big dinners cooked with dumplings being a traditional food consumed. There are many other festivals throughout the year all with having a different food associated with them, for instance the Lantern festival Tangy Uan is usually eaten, the dragon boat festival they eat Zongi and the mid-autumn festival or moon festival has moon cakes. The Chinese national day is on the 1st of October with fireworks displays held throughout the country.
Food is a big part of Chinese culture which is summed up by the ancient proverb, to the ruler people are heaven, to the people food is heaven. There are eight main regional cuisines like Shandong, Sichuan, and Fujian to name but a few. They don’t tend to go out to pubs but prefer to drink at the dinner table. Chinese tea is very popular which is consumed without milk or sugar and is taken for health benefits. Taiji Quan is a martial arts form based on the principle of the soft overcoming the hard, many older people will do this to improve their health.

My Opinion

This guest lecture was so far my favourite aspect of intercultural studies, anything related to Asian culture will always interest me as their culture and way of life fascinates me. Mainly because it is so different to our own being the reason behind this, to fully appreciate other cultures I believe you need to look at it without any sense of ethnocentrism. I have never being to China’s mainland but have being to Hong Kong so I had already an experience of Chinese culture first hand. However as I was to find out my knowledge was relatively basic. I was aware of the fact it was known as the people’s republic of china, that Mandarin is the main language with Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong. I was also aware that Buddhism was the main religion and the Renminbi was the main currency with Hong Kong having the Dollar.
To me however these are minor aspects of culture, what I feel to be important aspects of a countries culture is how they live their lives, every country has a currency, religion And language although different they serve a similar purpose, but every country has a different culture and approach to how they live their lives. Li Yanan or Alice as she calls herself for the benefit of the western world give us a firsthand insight to these differences which I found to be most interesting. Little things like surnames coming first and the importance of family is something new to me. one of the most interesting things I feel she mentioned was Taoism a religion i have never heard of but has existed in China for almost as long as Christianity although it’s no longer china’s main religion it’s something that has being created form Chinese philosophy .
From my experience of travelling through South East Asia I noticed food culture to be one of the main differences from Irish culture. This I found to be the most interesting topic despite my experience of Hong Kong I had little knowledge of Chinese food culture as with many of Asia’s big cities they cater for the western tourist. If I was to sit at a table of all Chinese I would not have know what to do as Alice pointed out that dishes are placed on the table for everyone to share and that it is polite for a Chinese person to put food on your plate with their chopsticks, and its considered impolite to refuse to drink at the table. When serving food it should be pleasant to the eyes. Modesty is considered an important part of their culture, when greeting they don’t like to hug or kiss and don’t like to show feelings or greet strangers. Its little things like these that I find most interesting, Irish people sit and have family meals but our eating customs are completely different.
To ask if I feel that this lecture was relevant to the topic I would have to say how it is not. In the course outline it says the aim is to build awareness and understanding of the role of culture in communications. Little things can have a big effect on how you are perceived in other cultures and ignorance of their culture can usually give a bad impression of you. For instance in Thailand it is considered rude to show the soles of your feet and an insult to touch Thai people on the head. To communicate effectively with someone from a different culture you need to understand their culture. The best way to learn Chinese culture is of course to live there but with the likely hood of that happing being slim the next best alternative is to learn for someone who grew up there. The benefit of this is that you know you’re getting genuine feedback. Alice was asked a question regarding child labour which is considered a big issue in the western world, she awkwardly avoided the question giving the impression it’s something she’s not proud of but aware of. It’s true to say that regardless of what cultural background a person is from they will openly tell you all the good aspects and be reluctant to mention the bad aspects. I noticed this in Vietnam with very little mention or evidence of the war in the North but the further south I travelled the more open they were about it. Culture is about understanding and misunderstanding, to understand a culture you need to be open-minded and accept that people do things differently than what your own culture considers normal if you start to judge a different culture based on your own then you will misunderstand certain aspects.

Rabbit Proof Fence

Summary

Rabbit Proof Fence is a film directed by Phillip Noyce in 2002 and is based on a true story. The film follows three Aborigine girls, two sisters Molly and Daisy, aged 14 and 8, and their cousin Gracie, aged 10. It is set in 1931 Western Australia a time when the Australian government introduced a law authorising the removal of Aborigine children or half caste children from their families. Despite the best efforts of their mothers the three girls were forcibly taken to Moore river settlement a camp for half caste children to learn the western way of life, by forcing them to live in crowded dorms and speak noting but English. The children were given the opportunity of receiving a good education here but there were strict rules breach of which would result in whipping or being locked in a dark room.
Molly never seemed to be able to accept this way of life and decides to break out reluctantly followed by Daisy and Gracie who seemed happy to stay. Despite being only being 14 Molly was very intelligent with regard the Aborigine way of life. Her mother had thought her how to hunt, track and prevent herself from being tracked which was to prove vital in their escape attempt. The girls knew if they were to escape they had to avoid being recaptured by “The Tracker” an Aborigine man who worked for the Moore river camp and always caught runaways. They also had A.O. Neville chief protector of Aborigines doing everything he could to get them back. The next problem the girls faced was how to get home, Molly was able to tell what direction they were going using techniques her mother had shown but did not know what direction home was. A few chance encounters with different people led them to the rabbit proof fence. The rabbit proof fence was a fence that ran from the north coast to the south coast to prevent rabbit’s crossing over and destroying the new pasture land. Molly was aware that there home settlement of Jigalong was beside the fence and decided to use the fence to guide them home.
It was however to prove more difficult than simply follow the fence, the tracker was in close pursuit and Mr Neville had the police after them. Molly continued to impress outwitting them all on a number of occasions. The girls exploits had made the news giving them unwanted recognition, this was to prove consequential as it led to Daisy’s capture, after meeting a man who told her that her mother was in a nearby village called Wiluna looking for her, instead the police were waiting and she was taking back. Molly and Gracie witnessed this and to make the moment more poignant it was the last time they would ever see her.
This did not deter the girls 9 weeks after leaving Moore River and after walking for 1,500 miles they finally make it home to their family. The film ended with molly telling us what happened after they returned. She tells us how they hid from the authorities in the desert, how she got married and had two children. Molly ended up being brought back to Moore River with one of her children and once again she escaped and walked home carrying her child. Molly’s suffering was not to end as the authorities came back and took her youngest child to Moore River with molly never seeing her again. It was a heartbreaking end to an amazing Journey.

My Opinion
I chose rabbit proof fence as it highlighted huge cultural difference within the same country. It was a story in which the so called superior white man believed they were helping the simple aborigine people by giving them the opportunity of a better life. It’s hard to believe that so called civilised people could be so ignorant to the culture and heritage of the native aborigine people. So much so that there was a government chief protector of Aborigines, who had the authority to remove children from their families. The assertion was that this measure would protect the aborigine population, as if they were left to intermingle within aborigine communities, half-castes will turn the community white as the weaker aborigine gene will be bred out within a few generations. It’s hard to comprehend that people can actually think like this and continued to think like this until 1970. These children became known as the lost generation.
I feel this film is relevant to the module as there are elements of cultural dimensions evident. Hierarchy is the most prominent of the dimensions found within the film. There is quite an obvious power distance evident in Australian society, as white people have the power to basically kidnap aborigine children with their family powerless to prevent it from happening. There are also equality issues with aborigine people being considered completely inferior to the powerful white people who show no respect for the feeling or way of life of the native people. I would also say the dimension of truth is applicable with uncertainty avoidance. The reason I say this because Australia although a relatively self-governing state still had a lot of British influence in government with A.O. Neville being English. The aborigine peoples way of life would have seemed very different and strange to the British settlers in Australia which I believe influenced their decision in developing camps such as Moore River. Overall I feel rabbit Proof Fence was a good example of cultural dimensions that exist in society.

The Karen People of Burma

Summary

On the 7th of March 2011 we had a guest lecture from Margaret Clarke who works for the Karen association of Ireland who help Karen people from Burma. As the majority of the class were unsure as to the whereabouts of Burma she started off with a brief introduction. Burma or Myanmar either name is acceptable is located in Southeast Asia and is bordered by Thailand, China, Laos, India and Bangladesh. Burma has a lot of ethnic diversity with the main focus group the Karen people being one of a number of smaller ethnic groups who have being fighting for an autonomous Karen state free from the Burmese government. The Karen state is located along the Thai Burma border.
The political conflict that exists between the Burmese government and the Karen people has existed since 1948 when Burma gained independence from the British Empire. There was a power struggle around this time as a man by the name of U saw assassinated most of the cabinet that negotiated Burma’s independence so he could retain the power he had before the British withdrew. This was also the start of the Karen people’s problems as they had negotiated with the British the notion of them becoming their own independent state, however this never materialised. When the newly freed Burma drafted their constitution the Karen issue was never addressed, instead Burmese nationalist forces attacked Karen areas and as a result this civil war has continued to this day.
The Karen plight was at its worst in 1980s with the government bringing in the four cuts policy. This consisted of cutting off to the rebel fractions depriving them of food and shelter. Civilian villages would also be attacked by burning them to the ground, murdering the men, raping women and children and laying landmines so the survivors could not return. There was an alternative offered the Karen people could work in army camps but this was a very difficult life with survival a constant struggle. As a result of this there is now a significant increase in refugee camps along the borders in particular the Thai border.
This is where Margaret’s work is involved, she works in a school called Nu Po camp where the students study social science and development in the hope that they can grow into potential future leaders dedicated to peace. There is also a huge resettlement programme in progress which involves moving families across the world to place such as Australia, Europe and America. She went on to tell us that there is a group that has being resettled in Mayo. When she went to visit them she was happy with they had integrated into Irish society and decided to help set up a website for them to promote their culture.

My Opinion

As with the Chinese lecture I knew I would enjoy this topic. I was aware of the location of Burma but had no idea as to the extent of the troubles and suffering the people faced. People had asked me if I intended to travel into Burma when I was in Thailand but it was never somewhere that crossed my mind as I knew very little about it. I would have to say that now I have learned more about the country and its people I would have to say that I would be reluctant to travel there but only because of the trouble they have, its sounds like a beautiful country with regard scenery and what Margaret tells us of the people they seem very friendly and welcoming. I can for the first time say that a guest lecture has had a negative effect on me only slightly though. Although Margret’s intentions were to highlight the plight the Karen people faced and not sell Burma as a tourist destination I left the class with a feeling of injustice on behalf of the Karen people. They are a simple and peaceful race who are being terrorised because they want their freedom which resulted in them having to flee their homes and be separated from their families. The negative feelings I have are more to do with the government regime that is the cause of the Karen suffering not so much to do what Margaret had to say.
I would consider this a very relevant topic as it highlights a common problem in not just Burma but other countries like Libya that have government in charge that are willing to persecute their own people to have things their own way. It’s a like there is a culture being forced upon them and if you do not conform to this culture of do as your told then you will be punished. However there is good work Margaret and the resettlement programme do to help these people, there seems to be uncertainty tolerance in Ireland with regard the Karen people who have settled here, there are considered guest of the state, have full rights to medical care, education and care. All of this has helped them integrate into Irish society and allowed them to embrace Irish culture while helping us to embrace theirs.