Chapter 2 Culture. What is Culture? Language, Beliefs, Values, Norms –Behavior Passed from One Generation to the Next Material vs. Nonmaterial Cultures

Chapter 2

Culture

What is Culture?

• Language, Beliefs, Values, Norms– Behavior Passed from One Generation to the

Next

• Material vs. Nonmaterial Cultures

• Patterns of behavior– Language, gestures, and other forms of

interaction

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Culture and Society

█ Society: Large number of people who live in same territory, who are relatively independent of people outside that area, and who participate in a common culture– Common culture simplifies

day-to-day interactions– Adorno: worldwide culture

industry limits people choices

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Cultural Universals

█ Cultural Universal: certain common practices and beliefs that all societies have developed

– Many are adaptations to meet essential human needs

– Murdoch compiled list of cultural universals but they are expressed differently from culture to culture

Module 9

Cultural Universals

• Examples:

– Appearance (bodily adornment, hairstyles)

– Activities (sports, dancing, games, joking)

– Social institutions (family, law, religion)

– Practices (cooking, folklore, gift giving)

Culture and Taken-for-Granted Orientations

• What is Normal, Natural, or Usual?

• The Culture Within Us

• Culture as Lens

• Culture Shock

• Ethnocentrism

• The many ways in which culture affects our lives fascinate sociologists


Elements of Culture

• Though cultures vary greatly, they have common elements– Symbols– Language– Values– Norms

Practicing Cultural Relativism

• Understanding Cultures on Their Own Terms

• “Sick Cultures” - Robert Edgerton

• Confronting Contrasting Views of Reality

• None of us can be entirely successful at practicing cultural relativism


Components of Symbolic Culture

• Gestures

• Conveying Messages without Words

• Gestures’ Meaning Differ Among Cultures

• Can Lead to Misunderstandings

• Is it really true that there are no universal gestures?


Symbols

• Humans sense the surrounding world and give it meaning

• Symbols– Anything that carries a particular meaning

recognized by people who share a culture

• Human capacity to create and manipulate symbols is almost limitless

Gestures with Different Meanings in Other Societies

“Hook ‘em Horns”

or

“Your spouse is unfaithful”


“He’s crazy”

or

“You have a telephone call”


“Okay”

Or

“I’ll kill you”

Components of Symbolic Culture

• Language– Allows Cumulative Human Experience– Provides Social or Shared Past– Provides Social or Shared Future– Allows Shared Perspective– Allows Complex, Shared, Goal-Directed

Behavior


Language and Perception: Sapir-Whorf

• Language Has Embedded Within It Ways of Looking at the World

• Sapir-Whorf Reverses Common Sense– Rather than objects and events forcing

themselves onto our consciousness, it is our – Language that determines our consciousness,

& hence our perception of objects and events


Values

█ Cultural values: Collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper – or bad, undesirable, and improper

Influence people’s behavior

Criteria for evaluating actions of others

Values may change

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Values in U.S. Society

• Achievement and Success

• Individualism

• Hard Work

• Efficiency and Practicality

• Science and Technology

• Material Comfort

• Freedom


Values in U.S. Society

• Democracy

• Equality

• Group Superiority

• Education

• Religiosity

• Romantic Love


Emerging Values

• Leisure

• Self-fulfillment

• Physical Fitness

• Youthfulness

• Concern for the Environment


Values and Culture

• Culture Wars: When Values Clash

• Value and Distorting Lenses

• “Ideal” vs. “Real” Culture– The values, norms, and goals that a group

considers ideal, worth aiming for


Norms

• Norms are established rules of behavior or standards of conduct.

– Prescriptive norms state what behavior is appropriate or acceptable.

– Proscriptive norms state what behavior is inappropriate or unacceptable.

Folkways

• Everyday customs that may be violated without serious consequences within a particular culture.

• In the United States, folkways include:– using deodorant– brushing our teeth– wearing appropriate clothing for a specific occasion

• These are sometime referred to as soft norms

Mores

• Strongly held norms with moral and ethical connotations that may not be violated without serious consequences.

– Taboos are mores so strong that violation is considered extremely offensive and even unmentionable.

– The incest taboo, which prohibits sexual relations between certain kin, is an example of a nearly universal taboo.

Laws

• Formal, standardized norms that have been enacted by legislatures and are enforced by formal sanctions.

– Civil law deals with disputes among persons or groups.

– Criminal law deals with public safety and well-being.

Situational

• Norms that change according to the situation

– As an example: Normative behavior at a sporting event would not be appropriate within the context of the normal classroom

– Behavior that appears to violate society’s norms may represent adherence to a particular group’s norms

– Norms may be violated because they conflict with other norms

– Acceptance of norms is subject to change

Acceptance of Norms

█ People do not follow norms in all situations

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Sanctions

█ Sanctions: Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning social norm

– Positive sanctions: Pay raises, medals, and words of gratitude

– Negative sanctions: Fines, threats, imprisonment, and stares of contempt

Module 12

Ethnocentrism andCultural Relativism█ Ethnocentrism: Tendency to

assume that one’s own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to others

– Conflict theorists: ethnocentric value judgments serve to devalue groups and to deny equal opportunities

– Functionalists: ethnocentrism maintains sense of solidarity

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– Different social contexts give rise to different norms and values

Cultural Relativism

█ Cultural relativism: People’s behaviors from the perspective of their own culture

Module 9

Popular Culture

• Activities, products, and services that are assumed to appeal primarily to the middle and working classes.

• These include rock concerts, spectator sports, movies, and television.

Subcultures and Countercultures

• Groups of people in a small corner in life, (occupation) tend to develop specialized – Ways to communicate with one another

• Subculture - A World Within the Dominant Culture

• Countercultures - Groups With Norms and Values at Odds With the Dominant Culture


The Old Order Amish Subculture

• Strong faith in God.

• Rejection of worldly concerns.

• Rely on horse and buggy for transportation.

Amish Subculture

Examples of Countercultures

• Beatniks of the 1950’s

• Flower Children of the 1960’s

• Drug Enthusiasts of the 1970’s

Beatniks of the 1950’s

Flower Children of the 1960’s

Sociobiology and Culture

█ Sociobiology: Systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior

– Founded on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

– Sociobiologists assert that many cultural traits rooted in genetic makeup

Module 9

Technology in the Global Village

• The New Technology - New Tools– The long-accepted idea that it is proper to

• Withhold rights on the basis of someone’s sex can no longer be sustained

• Cultural Lag and Cultural Change

• Technology and Cultural Leveling


Documents

Chapter 2 Culture. What is Culture? Language, Beliefs, Values, Norms –Behavior Passed from One Generation to the Next Material vs. Nonmaterial Cultures