Cultural Relativism

• Cultural relativism is the idea that behaviour can only be properly understood in the context of the norms and values of the society of the culture in which it occurs.
• Cultural relativism is the opposite of ethnocentrism.
• Berry found that culturally relative theories use an 'emic' approach where the cultures are studied from within and attempts are made to identify behaviour that only apply specifically to those cultures
• What is an example of cultural relativism

  An example of cultural relativism is recognising that certain diagnostic tools such as the DSM-V may not be universal to all cultures.
• How is the DSM-V culturally relative

  One of the symptoms of schizophrenia is claiming to hear voices, however this is an experience that is common in some cultures. Appreciating that the same criteria does not apply to all cultures and that we need different sets of symptoms of schizophrenia in each culture is indicative of cultural relativism