Failing a generation: The impact of culture on the health and well‐being of youth

Trends in suicide, mental disorders, drug abuse and crime suggest western industrial societies are becoming increasingly harmful to psychological and social well‐being. These trends are usually explained in personal, social and economic terms; problems in personal relationships, poverty, family conflict and breakdown, unemployment, homelessness, education pressures and demographic changes. The contribution of the culture of western societies to our worsening predicament, most evident among our youth, may be seriously under‐estimated because it is more difficult to assess. Yet modern western culture arguably fails to meet the most fundamental requirements of any culture: to provide a sense of belonging and purpose, and so a sense of meaning and self‐worth, and a moral framework to guide our conduct. This cultural failing may be more apparent in Australia, and other ‘new’ western nations because they are young, heterogeneous peoples. without a long, shared cultural heritage or a strong sense of identity.