Body Ritual among the Nacirema

The concepts of culture, cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, and qualitative research methodology are essential components in the study of sociology. Culture is generally the way of life of any social group. This sociological perspective touches on the ways social groups think, ways they act and parameters that shapes their ways of life. According to Edward B. Tylor, culture entails morals, customs, beliefs, knowledge, symbols, and other habits that one is able to acquire as a member of a given society.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Body Ritual among the Nacirema specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Cultural relativism as a concept believes that the cultural practices of a person are relative to his/her own social affiliation. Anthropologists believe that no cultural practice is superior to the other as per its own circumstance. For that matter, no moral belief is considered wrong or right and does not supersede an y other belief of a different social group. On the other hand, ethnocentrism is a sociological concept where a person views the entire world with reference to his/her social group. Here, one believes that his/her ethnic group is more important than other cultural groups in the world and measurement of one’s culture is done relative to his/her own ethnic group. Lastly, qualitative research methodology is a field research method that aims at bringing out the understanding of concepts of social life. The whole concept tries to answer questions of ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘what’ of any aspect. For instance, the research by Professor Linton is qualitative in the aspect that it tries to unearth the cultural practices and belief system of the Nacirema people. This essay analyzes the concepts of culture, cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, and qualitative research methodology from a sociological point of view in light to the body rituals among the Nacir ema. In addition, the essay will focus on the qualitative research methodology as used by Professor Linton in acquiring the beliefs and practices of the Nacirema people. Horace Miner’s article, â€Å"Body Ritual among the Nacirema†, reveals the rituals, habits and beliefs of the people of Nacirema. It discloses the whole life experience of man in that society. They believed that Notgnihsaw founded the nation. Notably, they practiced the culture of economic pursuits and mostly used the produces in ritual activities. The ritual activities centered on the human body that they believed was ugly hence individuals were to prevent the features through the influence of rituals and ceremony. Nacirema devoted shrines to assist in this process. So significant was the shrines that all families had to own one or two in their houses. On the shrine’s wall, Nacirema built a box where they kept charms that protected their lives. Nacirema had medicine men that were extremely powe rful hence highly respected. The medicine men were given extensive gifts for prescribing curative potions to sick people. Notably, even the poor had to give gifts to the wealthy medicine men since the community believed and respected their culture. Sociologically, they argued that such actions were right and all members of the society had to adhere to them irrespective of their economic status.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nacirema believed that used charms were not to be disposed, but had to be placed in the charm box. These magical potions could spill over to the floor. Each family member had to enter the shrine room, bow his/her head before the charm box and proceed to mingle different forms of holy water to perform rites of ablution. The priests had the role of purifying the water. Clearly, members of the Nacirema community practiced these rites since they believed that t heir culture was the best in the whole world. Then there was the â€Å"holy-mouth men† who were second in command to the medicine men. These people were conducting mouth pathology in a horrified way. For instance, they used prods and awls to gouge out a client’s teeth in order to create a hole for inserting magical materials. The purpose of this activity was to arrest teeth decay, build strong relationship with friends and lovers, and improve moral fiber among children. A holy-mouth man jabs an awl into the nerves of the jawbone. Even though this practice was extremely crude, cruel and did not meet its objective of preventing teeth decay, individuals continued to seek out the activities of a holy-mouth man at least once in a year. There is also the private mouth rite where magical powders and bundles of smog hairs are inserted into the mouth. In the context of cultural relativism, there is no judgment that the culture of the Nacirema was bad since they continued to pra ctice it amid the horrific encounters in the process. The whole process inflicts pain into the jawbones and cannot be condoned in the present society. For example, some African communities that practices female circumcision have come under pressure from the international community and local governments to stop the process. Additionally, there is the temple where medicine men perform ceremonies like treating the sick. According to Professor Linton, the ceremony is always harsh such that rarely do extremely sick patients come out alive. However, sick adults continue to undergo the protracted ritual purification. Sadly, temple guardians cannot admit a client before giving a rich gift no matter the level of illness. Out rightly, these acts show lack of moral values for the sick people. They compare properties to life of human beings. This cultural practice is quite unethical. Markedly, the sick were stripped off all their clothes and forced to perform natural functions into a sacred ves sel. The medicine men could manipulate, scrutinize, and prod naked bodies of sick females. Nevertheless, they continued to practice it in order to enhance societal unity and even believed that it was superior to other cultures in the world. The societal members were ethnocentric, as they did not reject attempts by maidens to strip them naked and allow medicine men to manipulate their bodies. Nacirema also believed that mothers could put curses on their children and only ‘listeners’ could conduct rituals to exorcise the devils.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Body Ritual among the Nacirema specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, women with large breasts could move from village to village to make money by allowing natives to view them. The culture of the Nacirema reveals the ethnocentric nature of the community. They had persevered the harsh, painful, and crude practices with the aim of fulfilling their societal demands. In their context, these practices were not termed evil since truth is never objective. The research methodology that Professor Linton used to collect the cultural practices of the Nacirema is qualitative given that it tried to answer questions on why and how the community behaved the way they did. It disclosed the Nacirema’s belief systems, experiences, and perspectives from the historical point of view. The whole concept helped anthropologists to understand how and why the Nacirema were behaving the way, they did. For instance, the research exposed why the Nacirema paid due attention to ritual activities albeit the fruits of their economic engagements. In essence, communities hold their cultures irrespective of the consequences that they undergo due to the ethnocentric nature and cultural relativism in the entire world. This essay on Body Ritual among the Nacirema was written and submitted by user Adriana Suarez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Dropbox 6 Essay

Dropbox 6 Essay Dropbox 6 Essay A grievance is generally defined as a claim by an employee that he or she is adversely affected by the misinterpretation or misapplication of a written company policy or collectively bargained agreement. To address grievances, employers typically implement a grievance procedure. The grievance procedure may also be part of a collective bargaining agreement. A grievance procedure is a means of internal dispute resolution by which an employee may have his or her grievances addressed. Most collective bargaining agreements include procedures for filing and resolving grievances. Within a union environment, the processes will typically involve the employee, union representatives and members of the employer’s management team. Grievance processes may differ somewhat from employer to employer and under various collective bargaining agreements. However, most will have certain general processes in common. Grievances are brought to the employee’s immediate supervisor. This may be either an informal process or the beginning of the formal process. Generally, there will be a requirement that the grievance be submitted in writing using a grievance form. Usually, the supervisor and the union representative will review the grievance to determine whether it is valid. Also, most grievance procedures will require that the submission occur within a specified timeframe following the event or incident. Three possible outcomes may occur at this stage of the process: 1. The supervisor and the union representative may determine that no valid grievance exists. 2. The grievance may be resolved. 3. The grievance may not be resolved to the employee’s satisfaction, and it will move forward to the next step in the process. The next step typically involves the next level of supervisor in the company hierarchy. In most union environments, the employee will be represented by the union and is not present in the review process. A failure to resolve the grievance will lead to the next step in the grievance process. The third step in the process will lead to a review by a higher level of company management and potentially a higher-level union representative. Ultimately, the grievance may reach the highest levels as set forth by the contract. If the grievance remains unresolved through the highest levels of management within the company, many procedures include a provision by which an outside arbitrator may be called in to resolve the issue. Senior leaders from both sides are typically involved in the arbitration process. An effective grievance procedure provides employees with a mechanism to resolve issues of concern. The grievance procedure may also help employers correct issues before they become serious issues or result in litigation. There are several constraints that police leaders can perform to limit job actions by uniformed police officers. Some are a matter of resources such as inadequate or missing equipment, weapons, training, vehicles, etc.; which ultimately falls back onto the budget constraints or lack of funding available. Others come from the actions of the leadership. Some examples include the