The Applied Anthropology

Culture is the set of attitudes, norms, and behaviors that people in a certain social group share. Young people learn, communicate, and transmit these ideas and beliefs to succeeding generations. Culture describes how a group of people interact with the world, including their beliefs, mannerisms, eating habits, and other behaviors (Sullivan, 2015). How close one person should stand to the next is a straightforward concept that is strongly ingrained in a person's culture. One learns about their culture through the process of enculturation from those who have a deep understanding of their ethnic history. Although there are significant cultural differences throughout the world, each society has a distinct culture of its own.

All-Encompassing Culture

An all-encompassing culture refer to a cultural system that shapes all parts of a person’s life. This refers to the values, personalities, preferences, and way of life. An all-encompassing culture is responsible for all human values and behavior, making it a definitive way of life. All-encompassing cultures include all societal members, with every person of the culture depicting a similar way of life, in regards to beliefs and values. Examples of encompassing cultures include kinship ties (Boas, 2017). The beliefs held by numerous people, in regards to how to marry depict an all-encompassing culture. In the United States, the rules set for marriages re widespread, with societal members sharing this distinct trait, in regards to kinship tie values. The decisive aspect as to whether a society is matriarchal or patriarchal depicts the all-encompassing culture, with the vast majority of individuals agreeing to the set rules, as well as its significance to their way of life.

Applied Anthropology

Applied anthropology refers to the methodological and theoretical application of anthropology to practical problem solving activities, aimed at bettering life for humanity. Applied anthropology is the practical and data oriented aspect of the field, which plays a great role in improving the living standards for afflicted people. Much of the applied anthropology relates to activism involvement, within a participant community. It differs from academic and practicing anthropology, as it depicts practice outside academia, in an attempt to impact society physically. The origins of applied anthropology trace back to the 19th century, where anthropology as a field shifted to focus on human’s nature on from an earthly point of view. This led to the current applied anthropology, which attempt to solve real-life problems, through the incorporation of anthropological data. Lewis Morgan is accredited as being one of the founding fathers of applied anthropology, who worked as an attorney and sought to offer legal services to the Iroquois, in regards to railroad rights of ways. This is one of the earliest documented application of anthropology dated at the 1840s, defining applied anthropology as seen today. Other applications such as the fox project, Camelot project, among others are clear depictions of applied anthropology, setting a firm foundation for modern applied anthropology.

Old and new Applied Anthropology

Applied anthropology gave birth to a new field in anthropology, which has greatly impacted not only the field, but also humanity as a hole. Through applied anthropology, there has been as growing human empowerment, with more individuals realizing their rights and freedoms, owing to anthropological efforts. The field has gradually evolved from a traditional approach of applied anthropology, to today’s focus, which aims at alleviating standards of living for better livelihoods. Various aspects have impacted the application of anthropology to human life, with most of the current provisions working interdependently to help solve problems facing humanity. The joint operation of public, applied, and practicing anthropology in the modern system promises to further anthropological efforts in bettering livelihoods for afflicted people (Boas, 2017). The variation in problems facing humanity has resulted to a shift in the focus of anthropology, altering applied anthropology.

The prevalence of education and democracy has empowered people, resulting to a varied applied anthropological approach. Modern applied anthropology is gravely focused on policymaking, in an attempt to better livelihoods for the unprivileged. Policies have a far better chance of sustainably impacting humanity in comparison to traditional approaches. Through policies, anthropologists have gained more power, in regards to amending laws to incorporate anthropological needs, and combating issues facing humanity (Bernard and Gravlee, 2014).

Traditional applied anthropology was involved in events such as colonialism, which is an inhibitor to liberation and accordance of rights. This led to the creation of a negative impression, owing the focus on meeting employer needs (British colonialists), rather than those of local communities. Such an approach is conspicuously absent today, with the increased focus on bettering livelihoods for locals, and not any organization or government. The focus is positioned on the needs of the community members, and applied anthropology attempts to solve these issues, in efforts to better their lives.

Case: Medical Application

Medical anthropology is one of the most fundamental applications of anthropology in the modern world. It refers to studies on health, disease, and health systems, taking an anthropological approach of focusing on the human being. As a field, medical anthropology attempts to uncover the health issues facing human beings, and how best to tackle them, in a medical approach. It encompasses the integration of culture and medicine, with the aim of bettering healthcare. Through medical anthropology, a student garners vital information in regards to the importance of patient ethnicity and cultural heritage. These aspects are crucial in applied medicine, as some cultures hold varied beliefs and thoughts. For example, a given culture may be opposed to surgery or injections, believing that bodies are sacred and should not be tampered with. Understudying such a belief enables the physician to seek alternatives, or devise the most suitable approach, in regards to medical assistance (Brown and Closser, 2016). This plays a crucial role to both fields, with the integration amounting to successful ad sustainable solutions to prevalent health problems.

References

Bernard, H. R., & Gravlee, C. C. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology. Rowman & Littlefield.

Boas, F. (2017). Anthropology and modern life. Routledge.

Brown, P. J., & Closser, S. (Eds.). (2016). Understanding and applying medical anthropology. Routledge.

Sullivan, K. M. (2015). Discovering Applied Museum Anthropology: One-Year In. Practicing Anthropology, 37(3), 44-44.