Conformity In Japanese Society
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Conformity within a society means that there are certain norms, laws, and traditions that people are expected to follow or they will face some form of social or physical castigation. Independence within a society means a deviation from accepted norms or modes of behavior. Since most contemporary societies are comprised of a diverse ethnic and racial population, there is usually room for some independent thought or action--if only because of the plurality of customs practiced. Of course, some customs, such as a society's laws, necessarily mandate conformity. In a society such as Japan's, which does not have a diverse population--being mainly comprised of Japanese--conformity to a particular set of customs, norms, and traditions have been more marked, and deviation from these modes of behavior has begun to surface only in the last several decades. This adherence to conformity has cost the Japanese privacy in their personal lives, and it has stifled independent thinking because it is synonymous with group consensus. Westerners have always viewed Japan as a homogenous society where conformity to tradition has always been prized over independence. Indeed, this has been the circumstance well into the twentieth century. Conformity in Japan has meant that sons have followed the occupations of their fathers, parents and adult children have often lived together in the same household, parents have been taken care of in their old age by their children, wives have obeyed their h
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ies. As a result, Japan's baby boomer women think radically but behave traditionally. Those boomer women who do succeed in the workplace have done little to win extra services, such as day care or maternity leave from employers (Miller & Uchida, 1993, p. 133).
Among the most important demographic shifts Japan faces is the aging of its population (Schlender, 1993, p. 132). As the older generation retires, there will be fewer people left in positions of responsibility who will want to continue the old way of life. However, the problem of how to care for its aging population will place strains on the adoption of radical ideas and will strain families in general. For example, in the last 40 years there was little change in the adherence to the idea of filial support of elderly parents. It was considered a good custom or a natural duty. In 1986, however, support for this tradition declined sharply. This was precipitated by the sudden emergence of government concern about the problem of population aging, by concomitant policy changes aimed at containing rapidly rising social security costs, and by extensive mass media coverage of these developments (Ogawa & Retherford, 1993, p. 595).
Current government efforts to shift more of
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Approximate Word count = 1793
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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