SOCIOCULTURAL BELIEFS, VALUES AND PRACTICES OF FAMILIES

Sociocultural Beliefs, Values and Practices of Families

Introduction

This research paper compares and contrasts cultural issues related to families in the United States to those of France. This world comprises of hundreds of countries that are unique in its own way, through their diverse cultures, the different languages they speak, their beliefs and their achievement. Such is the case with France as well that has made its place in its world through its uniqueness as well as the contributions it has made towards the world. France plays a decisive role in world history through the influence of its culture and its values, democratic and republican, for the settlement it waged in America, in Asia, in Oceania and Africa, and its pioneering role in building the European Union. It is a nuclear power, and one of five permanent members of Security Council UN. United States of America also has a distinct place in the world, due to various eminent reasons. (Hughes, 2001)

Location and Geography

France is the largest country of the 'Western Europe with its 643,427 sq km and is the second largest population with 60,561,000 inhabitants (estimated 2010) for a density of 111 inhabitants per km ². France is made up of the mountain and terrain, and has a total area of 551,500 sq km of, which makes it the fifth biggest country in Europe (CIA, 2010). Today there are six different ethnicities that make up the population of 64,057,792. It is situated with a shape reminiscent of a hexagon shape for 1000 km from north to south and from east to west. On the other hand, United States of America have a population of 310,232,863 people of ten different ethnicities are residing United States (CIA, 2010). It is the fourth largest country of the world where the main language spoken in the United States is English, which is 82%. Other languages spoken in America include Spanish, other Indo-European Asian language and Pacific Island languages. France, is a republic constitutional unit whereby most of the territory and population is located in Western Europe, but it also includes several territories spread across the Americas, the ' Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Its capital is Paris, language most commonly spoken is the French, and the currency used is Euro. Metropolitan France is located at one end of Western Europe. France also has many territories outside the European continent, commonly called overseas territories, which can be found in all oceans. The area of France is 670,922 square kilometers, or 547, 030 not counting the overseas. (Weber, 2008)

Religion

Following the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789, France guarantees freedom of religion as a constitutional right. France has many religions and all people are allowed to follow the religion of their choice because it is a secular country and freedom of thought and of religion is encouraged. The Republic is based on the principle of freedom of religion (including atheism and ...