Cultural Relativism And Ethnocentrism: Sleeping Habits

Cultural Relativism And Ethnocentrism: Sleeping Habits Across Cultures

Have you ever felt as though your culture is superior to another, solely because of the things that they do or do not do? This opinion is a product of ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism, a term coined by William Graham Sumner, is the common belief that your culture or way of life is superior to that of other cultures. To avoid biased research and conclusions, though, social scientists must view their topics objectively and without any cultural bias. To do this, researchers employ the approach known as “cultural relativism.” Cultural relativism is defined as the belief that no one culture is superior to another morally, politically, etc., and that all “normal” human behavior is entirely relative, depending on the cultural

Parents are expected to train their children to sleep alone in their cribs, in a separate nursery, from the time they are born onward. This practice stems from the belief that there are far too many risks involved in co-sleeping, but the truth is that there is little to no evidence suggesting that children who sleep with their parents are at any greater risk than those who don’t.

In reality, according to James McKenna, a professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame and director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, co-sleeping is very beneficial for the child. He states:

"Studies have revealed that co-sleeping babies often grow to be less fearful and more independent than their non-co-sleeping counterparts. From an early age, we're arming infants, babies and children with the support they need to be independent. Co-sleeping with the mother or caregiver supports the baby. He responds to the noises, motions and reactions of the mother or