Social Problems Related to Culture
- In theory poverty is divided into two parts. On the one hand is poverty on an individual basis, and on the other is generic or group poverty. While individual poverty is viewed as the result of personal difficulties, generic poverty is the effect of severe economic recession or low national income. According to the Global Development Research Center (GDRC), social inequality is one of the more entrenched sources of poverty that stems from cultural ideas about the value of different genders, races, ethnic groups and social classes. In fact, South Africa has a history of utilizing a binary caste system that determines rights and opportunities according to skin color. Social inequality comes from cultural ideas about differences among people to produce the social dilemma of poverty.
- Popular culture is a compilation of values and beliefs taken from developed nations and spread abroad. The mass media allows such culture to go from the United States to India in a matter of seconds. While it may appear that a central culture would have a positive effect on the world, the globalization of popular culture has negatively effected the environment. Cultures that glorify wealth along with material possessions are appealing to developing nations and causes citizens to abandon folklore in search of prosperity.
- American history has presented the world with a culture that associates violence with honor. In Antebellum America, southern men of every social class solicited to a code of honor that encouraged violence in the home and workplace. Men were not viewed as much unless they ruled their servants and wives with an iron fist. Southern men also esteemed the idea of verbal insults being worthy of physical attack. While the insult emasculated the man, he could regain such masculinity by physically beating the insulter. Although many have abandoned Antebellum American practices, some men still follow the ideology of violence that the era presented and in essence create a society filled with violence.
- Globalization has caused cultural norms to change to the point of allowing more teenagers and children to experiment with alcohol. Previously deemed a social taboo, alcoholism among teenagers is now acceptable in some cultures with parental approval. Even if the parents do not approve, teenage alcoholism is not ostracized by some cultures because it is understood that family along with self-esteem problems may cause youth to be dependent on alcohol. Teenage alcoholism is a social problem that may lead to health problems and death.
