HSP3M—What is Culture?
Read pp.26-28 in Our Social World
Complete Focus Questions and Case Study Questions on p.26
What are the 5 common characteristics of all Cultures? P.28
Read the following story about Ramu
A number of years ago in India, a 9 year-old boy was found by authorities in a boxcar on a railway siding. The boy was discovered in a carriage on the train and the authorities were puzzled as to whether he had climbed into the carriage or had been abandoned by his parents.
Unable to talk, except for a few animal-like sounds, Ramu also displayed certain unusual physical and psychological traits. His hands were bent in backwards and he preferred to eat raw meat. He cringed in intense light and he had pressure scars on his knees. Some reports suggested that he was also found to have a double set of incisors. Ramu was taken to a hospital and doctors worked with him for a number of years. Although he showed signs of progress at first, unfortunately he lapsed back into the state he was originally found in by the authorities.
One Indian doctor was firmly convinced that Ramu was raised by wolves. In other words he was a feral child, (a child raised by animals). Now, our western culture has many myths and stories about feral children. Romulus and Remus, according to legend, the two founders of the city of Rome, were suckled by a she-wolf. The famous stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs about Tarzan the ape man are also based on this idea. In addition, other stories about feral children have occasionally been published. One of the questions at stake here is whether there are such things as feral children. Could it be that Ramu is simply a child who was abused and neglected by his parents and then finally abandoned?
Another doctor has argued that there are no such things as “feral” children. Rather, if you examine cases of known “attic” or “closet” children, they often display symptoms similar to those of Ramu. There are several well-documented cases of “attic” children and we know for certain they are not feral. However we do not know for certain that there are feral children.
One documented case of an attic child is Anna. She was the daughter to a pair of German Jews hiding from the Nazis during WWII. The parents lived in a “dugout” in a farmer’s barn, and it was here that Anna was born. The close quarters wore thin on the nerves of the parents, so Anna was not raised in the healthiest of environments. After several years in hiding, Anna began to display some of the characteristics associated with Ramu. If Ramu was not raised by wolves, then perhaps he was mistreated by his parents. The “attic” or “closet” child, instead of being raised by an animal, has been treated like an animal. If there are any animal-like characteristics, they are to be found in the behaviour of the parents who have mistreated their child.
Nature vs. Nurture
1. What does the case study of Ramu suggest about culture as a learned behaviour?
2. What is the relevance of nurture in human development?
3. What doe the case studies of Ramu and Anna show about the Nature vs. Nurture debate?
4. How is your nature as a human further defined by your nurturing as a Canadian? Consider aspects of your nature such as your need to eat; need to survive and stay warm; need to attract the opposite sex; need to relate to others; need to sleep; need to be competitive etc. Answer this question by writing a poem about yourself. It will need to be 8 lines. Each line will start with “I am…” and will address a different aspect of human nature.
For Example:
I am a juicy rare steak wrapped in bacon (my nature to eat expressed by my nurture about what to eat).
I am the guy who helps my friends before they need to ask (my nature to be social expressed by my nurture about how to be a good friend)
You don’t need the brackets—just the 8 “I ams”