What I have learnt.

From this study I have learnt that there are different cultures within each group of people. These could be religious, hobby or political groups.
Secondly culture is manifested in many different ways, these are the features of a culture.
Culture is a hugely significant part of a person's identity and gives structure to their life and meaning to the occupations they participate in.

On further reflection I have also learnt (Kielhofner, 2002; & Ikiugu, 2007):

• The significance of the social or cultural context in which the client lives and the influence these have on their occupations.
• What is meaningful to the client is related to the culture in which they live.
• This culture is not just related to ethnicity but also things like life stage, social context, geographical location and each and every group the person is a part of.
• Culture largely involves unspoken rules about how life is structured, so these need to be considered in practice and utilised in treatment planning as each individual will not be the same.

References:

Kielhofner, G. (2002). A model of human occupation: Theory & application. (3nd ed.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.

Ikiugu, M. N. (2007). Psychosocial conceptual practice models in occupational therapy. Building adaptive capability. St Louis: Mosby Elsevier.

Part Three: Features of a culture.

There are many features of a culture some of these where highlighted in my study. Examples are shown below.
Attraction to be part of the culture:
“This group is like a second home for the young people in the church....The teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ encourage healthy behaviours that seem to benefit individuals and their relationships.
The group organise different social gatherings which provide a fun way to meet and bond with people from the same ward.”
Rites of passage:
“For males one rite of passage is completing missionary service for two years when they are nineteen. Another is teenagers completing four years of daily early morning Book of Mormon studies. Baptism and visiting the temple are also momentous achievements in the life of a Latter-day Saint. Members must be interviewed to be granted permission to visit a temple.
Symbols:
“The Book of Mormon and the Teachings of Prophets... clothing is a noticeable difference in that they wear suits and shirts and the women wear skirts... They address each other as ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ and usually don’t swear. They don’t drink any caffeine, drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. The missionaries can be identified by name badges which all wear”
Language:
The Latter-Day Saints refer to their churches as ‘wards’ or ‘branches’. As above they address each other as ‘brother’ and ‘sister’. They don’t swear. Temple wear is sacred so they don’t talk about it more than when necessary. Members are called ‘Latter-day Saints’, when shortening the name of the church they prefer ‘The Church of Jesus Christ’ or simply ‘The Church’.
Please visit the Latter Day Saint Church website, it provides a lot of insightful information: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e419fb40e21cef00VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD
References:
K.J. Jung Huh, D. Laupa & T. Hakopa, (personal communication, 7 October 2007).
Meetinghouse locator. 2007. Retrieved on 8 November, 2007, from http://lds.org/basicbeliefs/meetinghouse/0,6017,352-1-NEW+ZEALAND,00.html
Style guide. 2007. Retrieved on 8 November, 2007, from http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ca07ae4af9c7e010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD

Part Two: Study of The Church culture

"...I interviewed three members of the church. They all attend the young adults group which is made up of young people ages 18-31 years.
Firstly I asked which title they preferred:
I was told ‘Mormon’ is a term used by people outside the group whereas they prefer to call themselves ‘Latter-day Saints’.
What does this group mean to you?
They explained that it is like “a home away from home” especially as some of the members are not from Dunedin. Furthermore they highlighted the fact that being a Latter-day Saint is a choice and that it is not just attending church on Sunday but also living out their beliefs.
What makes this group different from other groups?
For this question I got a whole list of things that make the Latter-day Saints different.
· Firstly the church is structured into a hierarchy with a Prophet in charge of the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ, twelve Apostles, an Area President (one for each country or state e.g. New Zealand and Pacific Islands), State President (there are 7 wards or churches that the Otago president oversees), a Bishop in charge of each ward and then there are all the members of each ward.
· The plan of heaven, which is what the Church of Jesus Christ believes, happens before we are born on earth and is what will happen when we die. Basically according to a Latter-Day Saint before we were born we lived with God as a spirit, were born on earth with a physical body to learn to make good choices and when we die we will go to the spirit world to wait the resurrection where we will be judged and placed in a state of glory. There are different degrees or kingdoms of glory. The highest is the Celestial kingdom for people who lived in accordance to the gospel and received atonement for their sins, following is the Terrestrial kingdom for people who don’t accept the gospel but live good lives and lastly is the Telestial kingdom for those who keep sinning.
· Standards by which they live, these are defined in “For the Strength of Youth” and “The Articles of Faith”
· Along with the Bible they follow the Book of Mormon and the Teachings of Presidents. The Book of Mormon is ‘another Testament of Jesus Christ’ on his visit to the Americas. The Teachings of Presidents is a book containing one teaching from each of the Church presidents since the first presidency.
· All 19 year old boys are encouraged to do 2 years missionary work. The girls are also encouraged but are “encouraged less” to do this when they are 21 years old.
· Usual church dress for men is suits and white shirts, girls wear skirts or dresses. Over all modesty and a good standard of dress are encouraged.
· During the Sacrament meeting, the Sacrament ritual takes place where members take bread and water as a remembrance of Jesus Christ. This is served by males only.
· The Priesthood: which is the authority to act in Jesus’ name to heal the sick, to have leadership and serve the sacrament. It was passed on from Jesus to his disciples but they never passed it on so from that time until 1829 there was what is called the “period of darkness”. In 1829 Joseph Smith received the priesthood and therefore it was restored again. Being passed down from male to male. The Church of the Latter-day Saints believe they are the only Church to have the priesthood.
· They believe children are innocent and don’t know right and wrong until about eight years when they will generally have some idea of this. Therefore believers will begin to get baptised (full immersion in water) from this age.”

Part One: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Here are sections from my study of a Mormon community.
“Introduction:
I will study a branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church), who meets regularly on a Sunday.”...
“I aim to find out who the members of the group are, and what differentiates them from other religious groups, why people are part of this group and how the group functions as a whole.
In order to accomplish my aims I will attend church, interview my friend and another member, and I will search for literature that can give me background information on the church and its’ beliefs.”

“Application of Method
Visit to the church: My observations:
19/08/07 (Sunday service)
The church service consisted of:
1) Sacrament meeting (everyone takes part in this service lasting around 70 minutes, there are hymns, the sacrament (bread and water) and two or three speakers from the congregation.)
2) Sunday school (where young people are split into age groups and have a study around the Book of Mormon and the teachings of the prophets.)
3) Relief society (females)/ Priesthood (males) meetings (the genders are split up and each meeting consists of a teaching, general notices and hymns for an hour).
In preparation I asked my friend how I should dress and if there was anything else I needed to know before coming to the church. I was told skirts and modest dress was generally accepted.
...I observed many families (i.e. there were a good number of children) and a large population of people of Pacific Island and Maori descent at the church service, but otherwise there was a large range of people from all age groups.
There were a group of male missionaries greeting people and shaking their hands at the door. I was made to feel very welcome and included at the group. I felt welcome because many people were friendly and interested to get to know me, they made sure I always had a hymn book during the songs and I received an invite to women’s dessert/ social event.
During the Sacrament meeting there were both men and women speakers. They spoke about various teachings of the Latter-day Saints and reminded the members of the standards by which they all live. There were a number of hymns mixed in through the service. The hymns and bibles remain in old English from when the bible was first translated to English. So there were lots of ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ and ‘thy’. Further translations into contemporary English can mean alterations in meaning and a divergence from the original teachings. As the teachings are fundamental to this group’s beliefs and also believing they have the knowledge of the full truth it is obvious they would not want to compromise their foundation (as explained during personal communication with Kevin Huh, 7/10/07) . Members call each other ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ as they are sons and daughters of God. There is a real feeling of community even when there are separate groups for each gender and the different age groups. This is probably because they stay in contact with what’s happening among the members and they support each other where ever they can. One example of this that I saw was the women in the relief society group fundraising for other members to go on a trip to the temple in Hamilton.

What is culture?

Before commencing my Occupational Therapy training I assumed that culture was one simple entity, determined by your ethnicity or nationality.

However in preparation for my study of a group of Mormons I came across numerous definitions in literature which would indicate that culture is much broader.

A few of my sources stated that it is close to impossible to make a clear and globally understood definition of culture because there are simply so many out there; and culture encompasses such a variety of aspects, such as knowledge, beliefs, customs, art and law (Monaghan & Just, 2000).

Monaghan & Just suggest culture is "ways of knowing and doing, ways that are unique to each society"; Taylor (1997) supports this notion that culture is the way life is ordered in a society.

"Culture embraces all manifestations of social behaviour of a community, the reactions of the individual as affected by the habits of the group in which he lives, and the product of human activities as determined by these habits". This quote by Franz Boas (cited in Monaghan & Just) has, I believe the most direct relevance to Occupational Therapy in describing how culture influences occupation.

Nandas & Warms (2007) highlight six characteristics of culture;

1. Made up of learned behaviours.
2. Involve symbols.
3. Are generally patterned or the different aspects of the culture are related to one another.
4. A framework for understanding is shared by members of the group.
5. Involve adaptive techniques for survival in the world.
6. Dynamic nature.

References:
Monaghan, J.; & Just, P. (2000). Social & cultural anthropology: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

Nandas, S.; & Warms, R. L. (2007). Cultural anthropology. Belmont, C.A.: Thomson & Wadworth.

Taylor, P. (1997). Investigating culture & identity. London: Collins educational.