Culture

U03d1 Culture in the Courtroom

Part One:

            People tend to use cultural defense in the courtroom to justify their actions.  People use their beliefs and value because different types of religion gives them the right in their eyes to be deserving or worthy of their actions.  Religion can also be compared with taboos.  This is all a draw back because they end up breaking the law and society looks at that as a negative action.  Some people go too far with the doctrine instead of using common sense.  It is almost like being brain washed to act on what you believe no matter if it is right or wrong.  Jeffrey Breinholt’s article is an example of misuse of cultural defense.  Cultural defense should not only be used when the person has broken the law created by society. 

Part Two:

            My reaction to the lookism video regarding the courtroom scene is the fact that the US culture is to diverse.  We base many things off what we see and not the facts or even the truth.  The experiment gives an example of how we as society make decisions from a personal perspective.  After viewing the video, I can admit to making judgments using my visual sight and not what is important.  I totally agree with the presentation of tall versus short men.  I have found myself discriminating with the height of a man and it is because it seems that a taller man has more to offer which is defiantly not the case.  My grandmother use to say, “The grass is not always greener on the other side”.  The meaning behind that statement is, what might look good do not always mean it is good.  It is not good to base your decision off what seems to be right.  It is important to make decision from facts only

The way we act and think reflects back to our culture.  Differences in culture sometimes can lead to a cultural shock.  Even in the U.S., there are over 300 languages that are spoken which would cause confusion and cultural conflict.  Everyone views their own culture as “normal” and when...