Family Culture

 Culture shapes us in terms of our beliefs, values, and behaviors. Cultural context plays an important role in shaping our experiences as we navigate different family structures and power relationships. Family relationships are shaped by many factors, including social class, friendships, and parental education. Today I will talk about how families are influenced by their culture and the importance of choosing aspects of our culture and heritage while leaving behind what is no longer useful to us or our family.


Social class is a large determinant of the opportunities and challenges faced by families. It influences aspects such as education, occupation and income, which in turn can shape our families lifestyles and goals. Families of different social classes have different experiences and priorities. For example, working-class families may prioritize financial security and close relationships, while wealthy families may prioritize education and social mobility. These differences in values ​​and expectations can create both opportunities for growth and challenges to understanding within our individual families.


Friends and other like-minded people are essential to each of our social support systems and contribute greatly to our individual and family cultural identity. Families often reflect the values ​​and traditions of the community to which they belong, and friends play an important role in shaping those cultural norms. For example, if family friends value community involvement, volunteerism, and community involvement, those values ​​may instill in the family. On the other hand, friends who prioritize material goals can greatly influence a family's spending habits and their lifestyle choices. Recognizing the influence of peer groups can help families think about the values ​​they want to uphold and the impact it might have on their children's development. It can also affect how we view and prioritize the people we let into our lives as we can better understand how they will affect us and our family.


Parents are their children's very first teachers, and the parents' own upbringing has a great influence on how they choose to raise their children. Cultural values ​​and traditions are often passed down from generation to generation, and parents make family decisions based on their own experiences and from how they understand the world. However, it is important to recognize that not all aspects of parenting education align with our current values ​​and goals. By critically evaluating their own individual upbringing, parents can decide which aspects of their cultural heritage to accept and which to change. This process allows families to find a balance between maintaining their cultural identity and adapting to the changing needs and values ​​of the modern world. This is a particularly important skill in the early years of marriage as it allows two very different people to work together to build a family culture where both they and their children can thrive.


It is also important to understand that family culture can be flexible. As people grow and develop culture can change to reflect that. For example, when my parents were first married with young kids they spoke mainly French to their kids. My parents have a video recording of my eldest brother as a young kid running around yabbering on in French! As the years went on they spoke less and less as different stressors were added, such as kids not responding in French but in English! Due to this my youngest siblings have a very loose grasp on French and it is very much because of the eldest few:) Knowing this can allow us to choose how we behave to aid in adapting and helping our families adapt.


As societies progress, it is becoming more and more common for individuals and families to choose which aspects of their culture to keep and which to discard. By selectively adapting cultural practices, families can align their beliefs with their goals. For example, in addition to honoring traditional festivals and rituals, families can adopt new practices that promote inclusion and gender equality. Families can create dynamic and inclusive environments that align with their core values ​​and encourage growth through reinterpretation.

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