What is endoculturation?

What Does endoculturation Mean

The endoculturation , also known as Enculturation or inculturating , is the process that takes place when a person is integrating a culture with which it is contacted . The concept can also be linked to the cultural integration of a group of subjects or a community into a society.

When an individual is born, the endoculturation process begins to develop. This mechanism is both conscious and unconscious and involves internalizing the norms of conduct and the values of the group to which they belong.

Endoculturation is driven by older human beings , who invite new generations to adopt the more traditional ways of thinking. This "invitation" , in many cases, works as pressure or even as an obligation.
Thanks to endoculturation, the culture of a certain society maintains many stable traits beyond the passage of time. This means that there is a characteristic lifestyle that is preserved, despite the changes that occur as the story progresses.
It is clear, however, that endoculturation does not explain the wide range of ways of living that exist today. The intergenerational transmission of rules and customs is not always accurate or effective, and new generations also establish innovations and changes. Thus, despite endoculturation, there are current habits that are different and even opposed to others from past decades.
An example of endoculturation is the interest in soccer registered by the majority of children in Argentina . This phenomenon can be explained by the love towards this sport of their parents and grandparents, by its diffusion in the media and by other factors. In Canada , to mention another nation, this does not happen since soccer is not so culturally relevant.
It is important to note that endoculturation is not inherently positive or negative for a society, but rather the characteristics of its impact depend on the way it is implemented and the response of the recipient. For example, when one generation tries to transmit to the next its taste for some activity that includes mistreatment of animals, endoculturation serves to perpetuate this injustice; therefore, if the young continue with the customs of their elders, the result is negative.

However, if it weren't for endoculturation, each generation would have to start from scratch in all aspects of their development, including health care, food, games and language. This shows us that it can be very positive if it is used to guide new citizens in their intellectual growth, teaching them to communicate with the tools that have been refining for centuries. In this way, the process should always yield better results than in the previous generation.
It is known that in each period of our development we learn more about the world, and in this process the importance of socialization is highlighted: in general, we begin by living with our parents or with other elders who help us learn the basic concepts of life. life in society, and later we bond with our neighbors, schoolmates and teachers, to form friendships and go our own way. Of course, the media have a significant influence on endoculturation, since they spread the norms and customs in which the vast majority of the population is framed at all times .
As mentioned above, the reaction of those who receive these precepts is fundamental: not all of us respond in the same way to the same teaching. There are examples in all cultures of people who, after parenting based on violence , oppose it and seek a just path.