Enculturation

What is enculturation

Enculturation is the process by which an individual incorporates, learns, and puts into practice the norms, beliefs, traditions, and customs of a culture in which he or she is enrolled.

The term enculturation comes from English enculturation and was first used in 1948 by anthropologist Melville Herskovits.

Enculturation aims to teach what is considered appropriate and what is not, within a social framework, so that individuals can appropriately integrate into the group to which they belong. These are cultural norms that are transmitted from one generation to another, with the aim of maintaining social balance.

This learning begins in childhood and extends into adulthood, and can be conscious or unconscious. It can be transmitted through the repetition of customs, oral, written or audiovisual information and cultural heritage (traditional games and songs, oral tradition, dances, artistic manifestations, etc.). Religious beliefs or rituals are also tools of enculturation.

What is expected is that individuals assimilate the rules and put them into practice. And once learned, they are the ones who transmit them to other members of the social group in which they operate.

However, although the intention of the enculturation processes is to establish rules that survive over time, the reality is that each generation introduces contributions according to the historical, political, economic, social and cultural context in which it lives.

Characteristics of enculturation

In enculturation, learning processes occur within the same culture. When exchanges occur between different cultures, it is called transculturation or acculturation, as the case may be. Enculturation takes place in childhood, with the induction of norms in the family and educational environment. However, in adult life, individuals experience other enculturation processes, such as when they join the workplace and must assimilate the norms, values ​​and customs of the organization. Enculturation processes tend to generate rewards to reward adaptation to the environment. and condemns those behaviors that distort coexistence, depending on the cultural framework that seeks to reproduce. For example, in Chinese culture it is socially valued for individuals to respect and honor older people. Hence, in Shanghai, children who do not visit their elderly parents can be financially penalized. Enculturation is, to a large extent, an unconscious process. The individual adopts attitudes and forms of expression without trying to learn them, he simply assimilates them as part of the cultural elements of the group to which he belongs. The family nucleus and the close social environment have a great influence on this process. Enculturation also requires conscious learning. The individual must use cognitive resources to understand, decipher, reflect and argue about the rules that he must abide by. Here, formal institutions, such as school, are essential in this process. Individuals acquire learning about material and immaterial aspects of their culture (objects, symbols, beliefs, customs).

Difference between enculturation, transculturation and acculturation

Very often, the terms enculturation, transculturation and acculturation are used as synonyms, or failing that, they are treated as similar processes. However, they are three different concepts.

Enculturation

It refers to the process of incorporating and learning the norms, beliefs, customs and traditions of the culture in which an individual is immersed. Learning the country’s anthem, participating in social or religious rituals are examples of enculturation.

Transculturation

It is the process that occurs when a social group incorporates cultural aspects that come from another group. Immigration processes are an example of transculturation, bringing with them changes that are reflected in vocabulary (incorporation of new words), gastronomy, or social life. These changes are not usually sudden, but can be better appreciated in the long term.

See also Transculturation

Acculturation

In this case, a social group adopts new norms, customs and traditions from another group that imposes them. Colonization processes are, perhaps, the most representative example of acculturation, since colonized groups are forced to assimilate whatever the colonizing group wants to apply, such as religion or forms of social organization.

See also Acculturation