What is culture shock in sociology

Sample Student

Where to Invade Next?

Professor Eric Davis

Sociology throughout the World

After watching the documentary Where to Invade Next, I can safely say that many countries

around the world seem to be living solutions to many of the problems experienced in the United

States of America. For example, the working class Italians in the documentary each had eight

weeks of paid vacation in a year. In addition to these paid days of vacation, Italians are also

given an extra month’s salary in the month of December. This extra revenue can then be used

towards the vacations taken throughout the year.

The average American is given five weeks of paid vacation a year, and companies are not

required to give out bonuses during the holiday season. Italians were given two hour lunch

breaks each day in order to go home and enjoy the meal with their families, which is much

different from the hour lunch that is more common in America, during which many people may

still be doing work. The way that Italian workers are treated is much different than the way an

American may be treated. Americas are expected to work year round with little time for a break

in order to relax. The constant stress that can be experienced in the workforce is only increased

when one is expected to work more, and greater stress causes greater illness. As the CEO of

Ducati remarked, it is worth more in the long run for Italian companies to pay good wages for

their employees and to give them paid vacation in order for them to remain illness free and enjoy

their working environment.

Another country whose customs I appreciated was France’s emphasis on healthy food in their

education system. The children of this segment of the documentary were revealed to be from a

lower income region of France, yet what the school offered to its students was no reflection of

that. Out of the kitchen came a delicious looking meal for each child, made by a talented chef in

the school kitchen. Once a month the chefs of the school meet up with school and local officials

as well as a dietician to create a school menu focused on nutrition. While eating lunch the

students learn to serve each other and use etiquette, as lunch there is considered to be a class.

This whole scene is completely different from my experience with bland American school

lunches, that struggle to pass the arbitrary nutritional standards required by the United States

government for school lunches. Not only is the food provided at American schools unappetizing,

but many students bring lunch to school with them every day, whereas in France this meal was

always provided to the student by the school. The country’s ability to afford this amazed me, and

I really respect the care that is supplied to French school children.

Another aspect of the French education system that is different to America’s is their sexual

education. France’s sexual education focuses on safety as well as enjoyment, and does not

mention abstinence at all, wheres sexual education requirements in America vary state to state,

with some not teaching the course whatsoever. To show how effective this method of education

is, there is a graph of teen birth rates around the world, and clearly the US heavily outweighs the

number of teen pregnancies over France.

!

The difference of education seems to make a big difference in the rate of teen pregnancy, and

whatever France is doing has a greater impact on teen pregnancy.

Norway’s prison system seems so surreal to me. Prisoners wore their own clothing and

resided in their own houses and had incredible freedom. Criminals used knives in the kitchen and

were trusted to swim in the water that the property was on but not escape. Police officers in one

of the most high security prisons in Norway were not equipped with guns. The style in which the

prisoners lived gave me culture shock. Growing up in my house, my dad watched a lot of Cops

and Lock Up on tv. The scenes depicted in those television shows have been so intense for me at

times that I need to get as far away from the tv as possible, so seeing these inmates given so

much responsibility is almost unnerving.

I feel as though it is unfortunately ingrained in me that prisoners are dangerous and scary people,

simply because of what I had seen on tv growing up. Time and time again I watched a prisoner

commit an act of deviance and the law enforcement patrolling the prison tackle or beat or tase

the prisoner, without trying to diffuse the situation at all. Perhaps these shows are meant to make

the American people think of those imprisoned as lesser people. The way that Norway focuses on

rehabilitation as opposed to revenge leads to a staggeringly lower rate of incarceration than what

we see in the US. It is estimated that 77% of prisoners released in the United States return to

prison within five years of their release. Norway does much more to help enrich the lives of their

offenders, offering them a second chance at life the the United States seems to have a much

harder time giving.

Cultural relativism refers to viewing the practices and morals of another country's culture from

the viewpoint of that culture. An example of this viewpoint that ties in with the movie is to look

at why France chooses to feed their children healthy meals. The reason why dietitians and those

in the government help to oversee the school kitchen is because healthy children cost the country

less money when it comes to health care, due to the fact that France offers its citizens free

healthcare. From the American perspective, it may seem like a waste of government funding to

supply children with lunch, but from the perspective of their culture, this chunk of the budget is

most likely saving themselves money down the road. The ability to use cultural relativism is a

great thing and can reduce discrimination one may have for someone of a different culture, as

looking at things with a macro lens can explain differences better.

Ethnocentrism is the belief that the customs and standards of one’s own culture is superior to that

of all other cultures. This usually refers to the dominant ideology of one’s culture. A great

example of this phenomena show in this movie is

the fact that Michael Moore is from the United

States and went to different countries to show

citizens of his country that the world has many

different and in many cases better ways of

operating than how we do at home.

Ethnocentrism promotes exclusion of minorities

within a society, which can result in a feeling of

anomie, or lack of belonging to a group from people of mixed cultures in any society that

practices ethnocentrism. Those experiencing this confusion may feel the need to conform to the

norms of society and abandon the values from a their lesser practiced culture.

Finland’s approach on education seems almost paradoxical. How can it be that a country who

gives less homework to their students shows some of the highest test scores? As seen from this

data, Finland scored the fourth highest score for reading and the fifth highest for math. Not only

do Finnish schools abstain from assigning homework, they also have shorter school days and

school years. The positive results of their test scores make me certain that they are doing

something right, however the way that this works so well is lost on me. By simply letting the

child play and live a life outside of school in which they aren’t concerned with homework, the

Finnish government is allowing children to teach themselves and learn about things they

wouldn’t otherwise in school.

The approach that the school systems in Finland use seem to allow for their student’s brains to

rest in a way that makes them most productive. The amount of work that is expected out of

American students at any age is overwhelming and therefore inhibits productivity. The reason

why American students are so overloaded with work from the time we enter school is because

teachers are evaluated on their abilities based off of the standardized test scores of their students,

which is an ineffective measure of intelligence. Many people have many learning styles, so a

uniform test can’t properly highlight the strengths of certain students, and others may not be as

advanced as test scores show, yet they could be great test takers. The need to perform well on

these test takes knowledge out of learning and replaces it with memorization, which results in a

lesser understanding of subject material. The United States can certainly take a page out of

Finland’s book and make improvements to our education system in order to benefit the American

children and the future of this country as a whole.

Michael Moore was extremely effective in conveying his message that not every practice that the

United States uses is the best option. I think that it is a good thing for Americans to compare their

way of life to that of those living in other countries. This contrast helps us know that solutions to

our problems are certainly possible, and we have the ability as a country to live life in better

ways if we wanted to, because other countries have been successful with their own strategies.

One of the biggest factors in improving a product is competition, and looking elsewhere for

competition is necessary for us as a country to progress and improve as a whole. Comparing

ourselves to others generates new ideas of what is possible in this country, and we should

continue to do so for the well being of our citizens.