Culture determines behaviour - How far do I agree.

Culture is made up of several different elements including:

Values:
Values are widely accepted beliefs and general ideas and beliefs about what is right and wrong. For example in the UK we hold a value in the education system because we believe that we benefit if we are educated whereas in some societies education has no value as the parents need their children to be out working and providing money.


Norms
Norms are values put into practice. They are common guidelines in society that tell the person how to act in social situations and they govern all aspects of human behaviour.

Customs
Customs are traditional and regular norms of behaviour associated with specific social situations, events and anniversaries that are accompanied by rituals and ceremonies. For example in the US, people celebrate Thanks-giving on the Third Thursday in November by eating a large turkey and celebrating with the family.

Status
Members of society are given a social position by their culture. These positions are known by Statuses. In western societies, status is normally attained through education, job and sometimes birth and marriage.

Roles
Society expects people of a certain status to behave in a certain way. A set of norms is imposed on the status and these are collectively known as a role For example the role of vicar is accompanied by cultural expectations of confidentiality and professional behaviour.



The environment we are surrounded with from birth determines our culture. We are taught many things: how to communicate, how to drink and eat, when to sleep and how to act in situations so does the culture we are brought up in determine our behaviour?

Lets look at the following example:
In 1724, near the German town of Hamelin, a boy, described as a naked brownish black-haired creature, was seen running up and down in the fields. The boy was enticed into town, and once there immediately became a subject of great interest. He behaved like a trapped wild animal, eating birds and vegetables raw, and when threatened, he sat on his haunches or on all-fours looking for opportunities to escape. Peter was soon made the possession of King George I of England, where he lived the rest of his life. During his life Peter never learned to talk, showed a complete indifference to money or sex, and was never seen laughing. However he loved music, could be taught a number of menial tasks, and when he once got lost, he found his own way back home. Peter died in 1785.

The above case shows the effect of a lack of socialasition and culture. Without being surrounded by language we cannot speak and without being surrounded by people we cannot learn how to interact. It can be suggested that out behaviour is a result of culture otherwise we would be like Peter. We would go back to our cave man days before humans formed societies.

This is not to say that Genes do not play a role in behaviour. Researches from King's college in London have fund that boys who have a particular version of a gene are more likely to go off the rails if they suffer maltreatment when young.
The gene in question controls activity of an enzyme called monoamine Oxidase A.
The researches at Kings College studied a group of young men of whom 154 had been maltreated. They found that those who carried a version of the gene were more likely to indulge in anti-social behaviour.

In my opinion culture plays an important role in behaviour. Culture shapes our behaviour until we are old enough to evaluate our own thoughts and conclusions. Some people try to behave in a different way and rebel but this would never happen if they didn't have culture in the first place.
Terrorism is a major problem in the world today but until we understand every culture, we will never be able to understand the behaviour of their members