Week 2 Checkpoint

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Checkpoint - Week 2

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Culture Shock

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Culture shock is the term used to describe the anxiety and total unpreparedness that a person may feel when they encounter a completely new environment.   It can affect a person's physical and mental state.   They may feel sad, lonely, angry, be unable to solve simple problems, feel lost, insecure, and even abandoned.
"Culture is a shared way of life or social heritage.   Culture shapes our goals in life, our sense of justice and our innermost personal feelings."   (Macionis, 2006).   Culture is made up of the common things that people learn from each other that influences how they live, act and communicate with each other.   What might be perfectly normal in one culture might be unusual or even offensive to another.   These differences can make it difficult to adjust to new surroundings.
Understanding the major components of culture is extremely important because different parts of the world view what is 'normal' to them completely different that what we would perceive as the norm to us.
Every culture has its own values, beliefs, language, symbols, and norms.   Researching these areas in any culture would reduce the effects of culture shock.   The easiest way would be to learn the language if it is new to you.   Studying the culture of the new place will make it easier to fit in.   And make friends with the people around you so they can help you learn about this new place you are in.   All these suggestions will help combat culture shock.

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References

Macionis, J.J. (2006). Society: The basics (8th ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Prentice Hall. [continues]

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