ABSTRACT
For some people “culture” refers to ethnicity or nationality or food or the arts. At the core of culture is behaviour, and behaviour that creates or destroys social cohesion. In this chapter, the authors look at some key concepts and tools that help to explain the nature of culture. They consider some behaviour that might be seen differently through different lenses. The culture is both that which binds people together and the source of potential division and conflict when it becomes “them and us”. The authors provide a model and concepts that are intended to help think more clearly about what we mean by culture and behaviour. A key characteristic of a culture is that the members feel safe and comfortable with each other and tend to reinforce each other’s mythologies. Challenging mythologies is a dangerous practice since it threatens social cohesion.
