scholarly journals Cultural Beliefs and Practices of Ethnic Filipinos: An Ethnographic Study

Author(s):  
Evelyn J. Grey

<div><p><em>The study was to determine the cultural beliefs and practices of the ethnic Filipinos. This is a qualitative study and the focus is the Aetas living in Central Philippines. The informants were the 9 prominent Aetas, 6 of them were Aeta women who have experienced pregnancy or pregnant during the time this study was conducted. The findings revealed that during pregnancy their most  beliefs and practices are observed by the Aetas.  Some of the traditional beliefs and practices of Aetas  have been influenced by many factors. They have also retained some of their traditional beliefs and practices on pregnancy, childbirth, marriage, death and burial despite the effects of the factors mentioned. All throughout the life stages of the Aetas in the rural communities, their old beliefs and practices had been influenced by modernization.  It simply shows that the Aetas , are also susceptible to accept changes that may affect their way of life. Their traditional cultural practices that deeply rooted in their beliefs were difficult to neglect since it has already been part of their tradition for years.</em></p></div>

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel C. Anizoba ◽  
Edache M. Johnson

Some of the traditions and cultural beliefs and practices of the Idoma people of Nigeria have been influenced both positively and negatively as a result of the advent of Christianity in the area. The aim of this research is to investigate some of the cultural beliefs and practices of the Idoma people before the advent of Christianity, the people’s response to the new faith and the propelling factors behind the responses of the people. In doing so, a comparative study on these beliefs and practices after the advent of Christianity in Idoma traditional society was done. The study adopts a qualitative phenomenological research design and descriptive method for data analysis. Personal interviews form a primary source of data collection, while the secondary source includes library sources. This method of study was chosen to allow the data collected to speak for themselves without any interference from the researchers. The study unveils that the advent of Christianity in the Idoma traditional society had some impact and consequences on the traditional and cultural practices of the people, such as death and burial ceremonies, the Aje-alekwu festival and widowhood practices among others. The study recommends that there should be a synergy between Idoma traditional beliefs and practices and Christianity for peaceful co-existence, progress and development in the area.Contribution: It is erroneously believed that in the contemporary society, traditional religious practices are going to die and become a thing of the past. However, one would observe from this study that Idoma people still hold their traditional beliefs and practices in high esteem despite the influence of Christianity in the area.


Midwifery ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 102881
Author(s):  
Monjura Khatun Nisha ◽  
Ashraful Alam ◽  
Aminur Rahman ◽  
Camille Raynes-Greenow

Author(s):  
M. Venkateswarlu ◽  
M. A. Mushtaq Pasha ◽  
Afsar Fatima

Background: The postpartum period continues to be an important part of the tradition and culture among Indian women. But frequently the health of the postnatal women is neglected. So, the present study aimed to explore the beliefs and practices in the postpartum period regarding diet, rest, hygiene, confinement and assess association between cultural practices and socio demographic characteristics.Methods: A cross‐sectional descriptive study was conducted in the field practice area of urban SRMC Nandyal. The participants were women who had given births in the past three months. The data was collected using a pre‐tested semi‐structured questionnaire.Results: Among the 140 women, over 75% of women had increased their diet intake postpartum. Vegetables such as brinjal and fruits like papaya were avoided by 58.5% and 63.6% women respectively. Among the mothers 18.3% consumed less than 500 ml of water every day and 22% did not drink milk at all. Household work was avoided by 67% of the women while 79.6% avoided going outdoors. Many women didn’t maintain personal hygiene. Many women took home remedies for faster recuperation. These practices were influenced by the socioeconomic status and the woman’s educational status.Conclusions: Traditional postpartum practices are still popular among women in rural and slum areas in Andhra Pradesh. It is critical to identify the harmful practices and reinforce the positive healthy practices to make postpartum period a healthy and joyful period for the mother.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Latha S. ◽  
Kamala S. ◽  
Srikanth S.

Background: Neonatal mortality is high in tribal areas. Cultural practices influence the newborn health outcomes in tribal communities. Each tribe has its own unique practices on newborn rearing. Little scientific information is available on the beliefs and practices related to essential newborn care among tribes in Tamilnadu. An understanding of the tribe specific newborn care practices by health workers could facilitate them to provide effective newborn care.Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in Sittilingi tribal area in Dharmapuri district of Tamilnadu during the period August and September 2016. The data was collected by In-Depth interviews of 10 mothers with infants, selected by Snow ball sampling method. Local newborn care beliefs and practices were explored and analysis of their beneficial or harmful effects was carried out.Results: The findings show that beneficial practices like utilizing antenatal services, institutional deliveries, delayed bathing and measures to prevent infection were adopted. Harmful practices being followed included late initiation of breastfeeding, denying colostrum, feeding prelacteals, improper thermal care and application of indigenous substances on umbilical cord stump.Conclusions: In spite of utilization of health services, traditional beliefs still play a crucial role in influencing neonatal care practices in the study area. The findings necessitate a need for accessing the prevalence of cultural practices by quantitative studies. Midwives being a vital source of information should be aware of local cultural practices in their work place, to plan for effective behavior change among the mothers to preserve safe practices and avoid harmful practices.  


Author(s):  
Ezgi Sahin ◽  
Nevin Hotun Sahin

Having children is a substantial part of cultural identity in our society. From past till now, various customs, traditions and beliefs have been applied, especially during pre-pregnancy and pregnancy period in Anatolia. Some of them are still in practice and effective. However, all these practices to have children are applied generally to women, and there are few practices applied on men regarding the elimination of infertility because women are regarded as responsible for not having children in Anatolia. In this compilation, the traditional beliefs and practices applied before and during pregnancy in Anatolia are explained. National and international articles on this subject are analysed by using keywords in Google academic database. As a result, it is found that some practices negatively affect both the mother’s and child’s health. So, awareness on this subject should be raised, unhealthy practices and beliefs should be discussed and changed, and beneficial ones should be supported.Keywords: Traditional practices, intercultural nursing, traditional beliefs, pregnancy, culture.


Africa ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ames

Opening ParagraphThe material for this paper was collected while making a general ethnographic study of the Wolof people in the Saloum districts of the Gambia and neighbouring Senegalese villages in 1950–1. The extraordinary concern of the Gambian Wolof with ‘witches’ soon became evident when discussing and observing many ‘distinct’ aspects of their way of life. The object of this paper is twofold: to describe not only emotional reactions to ‘witches’, but to give an account of the behaviour ascribed to them, and the techniques for coping with their attacks; some functions and dysfunctions of these beliefs and practices will then be discussed.


1970 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabit Ababor ◽  
Zewdie Birhanu ◽  
Atkure Defar ◽  
Kasahun Amenu ◽  
Amanuel Dibaba ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: The influence of socio-cultural factors on institutional birth is not sufficiently documented in Ethiopia. Thus, this study explores socio-cultural beliefs and practices during childbirth and its influences on the utilization of institutional delivery services.METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted in three regions of Ethiopia through eight focus group discussions (with women) and thirty in-depth interviews with key informants which included health workers, community volunteers, and leaders. The data were analyzed thematically.RESULTS: The study identified six overarching socio-cultural factors influencing institutional birth in the study communities. The high preference for traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and home as it is intergenerational culture and suitable for privacy are among the factors. Correspondingly, culturally unacceptable birth practices at health facilities (such as birth position, physical assessment, delivery coach) and inconvenience of health facility setting to practice traditional birth rituals such as newborn welcoming ceremony made women avoid health facility birth. On the other hand, misperceptions and worries on medical interventions such as episiotomy, combined with mistreatment from health workers, and lack of parent engagement in delivery process discouraged women from seeking institutional birth. The provision of delivery service by male health workers was cited as a social taboo and against communities' belief system which prohibited women from giving birth at a health facility.CONCLUSIONS: Multiple socio-cultural factors and perceptions were generally affected utilization of institutional birth in study communities. Hence, culturally competent interventions through education, re-orientation, and adaptation of beneficial norms combined with women friendly care are essential to promote health facility birth. 


Author(s):  
Emmanuel C. Anizoba ◽  
Edache Monday Johnson

The research focuses on the patterns of traditional religious and cultural practices of the Idoma People of Nigeria. The study also seeks to investigate the cultural beliefs and practices of the Idoma traditional society which were affected by the advent of Christianity in the area. Some of the cultural beliefs and practices of the Idoma people before the advent of Christianity will be examined, as well as the people response to the new faith and the propelling factors behind the responses of the people. The study adopted qualitative phenomenological research design and descriptive method of data analysis. Personal interview forms a primary source of data collection while the secondary source includes library sources. The study reveals that the advent of Christianity in the Idoma traditional society had some impact and consequences on their traditional and cultural practices. Some of the Idoma beliefs and practices affected include ancestor veneration, polygamous marriage, burial rites, widowhood practices, naming ceremony among others which are no longer practiced the way it used to be practiced before the advent of Christianity. The study recommends among other things that, there should be a synergy between Idoma traditional beliefs and practices and Christianity for peaceful co-existence, progress and developments in the area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-125
Author(s):  
Kuldip Kaur Kang ◽  
Nicola Moran

Purpose This paper aims to explore inpatient staff experiences of seeking to meet the religious and cultural needs of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) inpatients on mental health wards. Design/methodology/approach Nine semi-structured interviews were undertaken with inpatient staff in one NHS Trust in England to explore their views and experiences of supporting BAME inpatients to meet their religious and cultural needs. Anonymised transcripts were analysed thematically. Findings Inpatient staff reported lacking the confidence and knowledge to identify and meet BAME inpatients’ religious and cultural needs, especially inpatients from smaller ethnic groups and newly emerging communities. There was no specific assessment used to identify religious and cultural needs and not all inpatient staff received training on meeting these needs. Concerns were raised about difficulties for staff in differentiating whether unusual beliefs and practices were expressions of religiosity or delusions. Staff identified the potential role of inpatients’ family members in identifying and meeting needs, explaining religious and cultural beliefs and practices, and psychoeducation to encourage treatment or medication adherence. Practical implications Potential ways to address this gap in the knowledge and confidence of inpatient staff to meet the religious and cultural needs of BAME patients include training for inpatient staff; the production and updating of a directory of common religious and cultural practices and needs; local resources which can help to support those needs; and religious and cultural practices and needs being documented by mental health practitioners in community teams such that this information is readily available for inpatient staff if a service user is admitted. Originality/value This is the first study to consider inpatient staff views on meeting the religious and cultural needs of BAME informal patients and patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.


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