Cultural Models and Fertility Timing among Cherokee and White Youth in Appalachia: Beyond the Mode

Abstract

One of anthropology's central concerns has been how group differences in behavior, experience, and ways of seeing the world (i.e., cultural differences) are created and reinforced. Common approaches to characterizing cultural differences have focused on describing mean or modal distinctions, such as Fry's (1992) analysis of different levels of community aggression between two Zapotec groups in Mexico, or the cultural differences in childrearing styles described in the Whitings' classic Six Cultures study (Whiting and Whiting 1975). Psychological anthropology has contributed to these investigations through its description of group differences in shared cognitive and emotional structures, or cultural models (D'Andrade and Strauss 1992;Shore 1996;Strauss and Quinn 1997) that underlie these observed behavioral differences across cultural groups. For example, Harkness and Super (1996) show how parents' culture-specific models of childrearing are associated with psychological, biological, and behavioral differences in child development.Comparing and contrasting groups in terms of modal characteristics has productively shown culture's influence on thought and behavior, but this approach has its limitations. In 1961, A.F.C. Wallace critiqued the way that culture and personality -the dominant analytical frame of the time -conflated cultural group with individual psychological characteristics (Wallace 1961). Since this time, there have been recurring calls for a focus on subgroup differences and individual variability (Boster 1987;Pelto and Pelto 1975). Contemporary approaches in psychological anthropology direct our attention to the processes by which such diversity is formed (Handwerker 2002: Shore, 1996, moving us further from the flat descriptive essentialism of earlier perspectives on culture.Our understanding of within-cultural variability has benefited greatly from quantitative data and models of cultural consensus (Romney, et al. 1986). Such approaches have permitted anthropologists to explore the relative degree of sharing or consensus among related cultural groups (Borgatti 2002;Caulkins 2001;Garro 2000;Handwerker 2002; Hruschka, et al. 2008; Moore, et al. 1999;Weller and Baer 2002). For example, Baer et al. (2004) show that community location is more important than professional training in determining cultural beliefs about AIDS among physicians and patients in Texas and Mexico. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptAm Anthropol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 November 8. NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptMost quantitative studies of cultural variation have examined between-group differences in modal thought or behavior. However, another aspect of inter-group variability has to do with the degree to which group members endorse a single dominant model (Boster and Weller 1990; Hruschka, et al. 2008). For example, in the 20th century, Americans adhered to a strong norm concerning the appropriate color of a wedding dress (white). However, no such norm prevailed p...

Integrating Motivational Interviewing and Traditional Practices to Address Alcohol and Drug Use Among Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Youth

“…In a recent study with urban AI/AN youth, Stumblingbear-Riddle and Romans (2012) found that stronger enculturation and more social support from friends among urban AI/AN adolescents were both associated with higher resilience, which is often associated with less AOD use (Weiland, et al, 2012; Wingo, Ressler, & Bradley, 2014). Given that AI/AN youth often exhibit crucial differences in their ways of viewing the world compared to other racial/ethnic groups of youth (Brown, 2010; Brown, Hruschka, & Worthman, 2009), it is important to understand their conceptualization of addiction and desistance from AOD use and the related stressors, barriers and cultural differences that may exist in order to build successful AOD use prevention programs for these youth.…”

“…The original foundation of the program is based on extensive community-based work conducted by Daniel Dickerson and Carrie Johnson (Dickerson, Johnson, et al, 2012; Dickerson & Johnson, 2011; Dickerson & Johnson, 2012; Dickerson, et al, 2014), Kurt Schweigman (Native American Health Center, 2012), Ryan Brown (Brown, 2010; Brown, Copeland, Costello, Angold, & Worthman, 2009; Brown, Hruschka, et al, 2009), and Elizabeth D’Amico (D'Amico, Green, et al, 2012; D'Amico, Hunter, Miles, Ewing, & Osilla, 2013; D'Amico, et al, 2008; D'Amico, Osilla, & Hunter, 2010). MICUNAY targets a variety of behaviors including reducing AOD use and increasing well-being, spirituality and cultural identification.…”

Cultural Identity Among Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Youth: Implications for Alcohol and Drug Use

“…For example, Brown, Hruschka, & Worthman (2009) discovered that Cherokee youth had much more flexible mental models for the relative timing of major life events compared to White youth living in the same areas, including narratives on how having children can decrease parental risk behaviors. Differences in cultural worldviews (including differences in conceptualizations of the community) may influence AI/AN youths’ pathways into and out of AOD use; for example, Szlemko and colleagues argue that addiction and recovery among AI/AN youth is more deeply contingent upon community context than in other populations (Szlemko, Wood, & Thurman, 2006).…”

Inside‐Out and Outside‐In? Global Development Theory, Policy, and Youth

“…Surprisingly few studies examine cultural models of the life course or their variation within and among societies, and through time (Brown et al ). But ethnographic and historical evidence suggest their omnipresence, rich complexity, and dense imbrication with values, morals, and motives.…”

“…Cultural models of the life course proved to be important forces in the lives of these youth. The life history interview detected subcultural commonalities and differences between Cherokee and Anglo communities, was clearly linked to practices and behaviors such as timing of marriage and childbearing in the respective communities, and predicted psychological outcomes such as subjective social status (Brown et al , ).…”