Culture and Class

 Remember when I said that some topics in class are harder to write about, well this is one of those times. I’m not saying that its hard to write about because of information, but really more of how to explain it where you as the reader can gain something from it. In this post I would like to try to express different views on how culture and social class may impact families. I hope to show and provide information that lets us see how real the impact both have.  Cultures and social classes seem to play a role in our modern time view on families. As a general population it seems we categorize families and associate them with different cultures and social classes. These cultures we associate them with are usually defined or maintained by skin color, language or geography. What I believe we fail to miss is that each family has its own culture. It is not defined by race, or any other form of diversity you can think of, but that they have their own culture in the home. Each family’s culture is defined and maintained by its own religious beliefs, practices, the culture of the family’s older generations, and as well as the community the family resides in. I hope to somehow portray these aspects to reshape our view, and maybe just maybe look at families today with a little more compassion.

            An easy way that we can look at this is through our current problems. There is a problem we have in our day that has developed to become part of our culture. That problem is less and less couples believe in marriage. It seems couples want to have all the benefits of marriage but without any of its important meanings. I’m not talking about the marriage certificate, but I am trying to refer to what it means to be married. It’s about having that stability and permanent commitment with one another. This creates in their children a lack of preparation to be able to sustain a future relationship for raising children of their own. That is partly how culture today is affecting the Family system. The hard truth is that people today have no successful role models for long term couples behavior. It seems like marriage is an idea, but never really goes past that. Through the last few decades, we have seen more divorce rates, children born before marriage, and more people choosing to live together without getting married. As children learned from the parents through the generations it has created a cultural shift of continual failing relationships and they do not learn about what is needed for those long term relationships. We need another cultural shift , that’s not about just getting married but about what it takes to form and sustain lasting unions for raising our children.

            Culture in a family can dictate family members' roles and responsibilities toward one another, how family members relate to one another, how decisions are made within families, how resources are distributed, and how problems are defined. Understanding culture in a family can also help us realize that its how we deal with stress as a family. The beliefs that tie a family together is a bond that carries them through all the hard times in life. I say that because one of the factors of family culture that plays a big role in them is religion. Depending on the religion the family associates with, the family carries a set of beliefs that they go by. Religion can play a role in family’s roles, responsibilities, relationships, how decisions are made, and how they handle stressful times together. Being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), my family has a set of beliefs that invoke different realities that the culture can provide. I say can provide because we have our agency to choose between different choices. Some will lead to joy while others would lead to the opposite. My parents are one, they believe working together and making decisions together create a closer bond that will help insure the safety of their family. As Children we were taught about love, compassion, strength, honesty, work ethic, integrity, and so much more. Most if not all the teachings we had growing up came from our religion and what we believe. We were taught to find guidance from our father in heaven if we were unsure of the direction we were going in life. We were taught to respect and care for one another as Christ does. We learned about responsibility and our roles as future Priesthood holders. If we take the time to understand how different views of religion impact the culture of a family, we can start to see where that family gets its view on life.

If we do that we start to grow love and mutual respect for all the families we see and meet. We see that no family is better than the other but we are all here trying to do the same thing. We are all going through struggles while trying to raise our family and provide for them that they may accomplish all that they desire at the same time.

I hope you are getting what I am trying to say. I am trying to express that no matter how rich, poor, or what race you are, it doesn’t change your opportunity to have happiness. We can learn about the culture that our family has and then make a shift if needed to create a healthy environment for our family to thrive. The culture we create in our families will have impact on further generations. Its our job to show them what it means to have a stable and communicating relationship, and an environment that shows what it takes to support one another.