Cross Cultural Miscue Analysis

Cross-Cultural Miscues Culture can be defined using many different phrases; one way of phrasing culture is a system of shared ideas or meanings. Different parts of the world have vastly different cultures that they practice in their society. Since so many contrasting cultures are present, not everyone knows about what is acceptable in every culture. This leads to cultural “norms” being violated resulting in a cross-cultural miscue. Cross-cultural miscues happen because the actions or languages accepted in one culture can be offensive or unwelcoming in another culture. Understanding the ways of the people in a society of a culture is very important for anthropologists, especially those performing fieldwork. In order to be accepted into the …show more content…
Jennifer Roberts, a medical anthropologist from the United States, was doing fieldwork in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when she violated the norms of the culture not in only way, but two. When introduced to a five-year-old girl in the region, she patted the young girl on the head; this was Roberts’ first mistake. Although it is considered acceptable in most societies in North America, patting someone on the head in Malaysia is a violation of the most sacred part of the body. This was so significant because in Malaysia, the head is considered to be the most sacred part of the body and the center of spiritual and intellectual powers of a person (Calloway-Thomas, Cooper, & Blake, 1999). Roberts patted the girl on the head not knowing that this was a violation. In North America, patting someone on the head is a regarded as a sense of affection and endearment. Jennifer Roberts thought she was showing affection to the little girl in Kuala Lumpur when in fact, she was doing almost the exact …show more content…
Part of doing fieldwork as not just a medical anthropologist, but any anthropologist in general, is understanding the culture in which you will be working with before you begin work. Roberts’ mistakes could have been avoided if only she would have taken the right precautions. First, she should have understood the culture and ways of the people before she travelled to Malaysia. By doing this, she would have been aware of how to properly greet them and compliment them. Instead, she did not know the differences between her own culture and the culture she was studying so she didn’t realize the comments she was making and her actions were improper. As an anthropologist, she should have known what was acceptable and expected of her in this foreign society. One principle barrier to anthropological fieldwork is language. Not only does this mean being able to speak and understand the words of the language, but it also includes how to use the language and what is appropriate to say. Establishing rapport with the members of a society is essential in studying a different culture. By insulting the mother of the five-year-old, Jennifer Roberts did not make a good impression to institute a relationship with this person to study her culture and way of life. Another way this cross-cultural miscue could have been avoided was if Roberts had an understanding that her way of greeting people and appropriately