NASP Home > NASP Resources > Cultural Competence > Defining Culture

NASP Cultural Competence - Defining Culture

Click here to download a Word file of this document.

Culture: An integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, languages, practices, beliefs, values, customs, courtesies, rituals, manners of interacting and roles, relationships and expected behaviors of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group; and the ability to transmit the above to succeeding generations.

Source: National Center for Cultural Competence of Georgetown University

http://gucchd.georgetown.edu/nccc/

Culture: A specific set of social, educational, religious and professional behaviors, practices and values that individuals learn and adhere to while participating in or out of groups they usually interact with.

Source:  Diversity Rx Website. Supported by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care (RCCHC), Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

http://www.diversityrx.org/HTML/ESGLOS.htm

An Anthropological Perspective of Culture

Topical:  Culture consists of everything on a list of topics, or categories, such as social organization, religion, or economy

Historical:  Culture is social heritage, or tradition, that is passed on to future generations

Behavioral:  Culture is shared, learned human behavior, a way of life

Normative:  Culture is ideals, values, or rules for living

Functional:  Culture is the way humans solve problems of adapting to the environment or living together

Mental:   Culture is a complex of ideas, or learned habits that inhibit impulses and distinguish people from animals

Structural:  Culture consists of patterned and interrelated ideas, symbols, or behaviors

Symbolic:  Culture is based on arbitrarily assigned meanings that are shared by a society

Source: John H. Bodley, From Cultural Anthropology: Tribes, States, and the Global System, 1994

http://www.wsu.edu:8001/vcwsu/commons/topics/culture/culture-definitions/bodley-text.html - top

All web links correct and functioning as of May 2006.