Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-1 3 Chapter Culture Culture and Society Development of Culture Around the World

Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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3

Chapter

CultureCulture

Culture and Society

Development of Culture Around the World

Elements of Culture

Culture and the Dominant Ideology

Cultural Variation


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Chapter Three Outline Chapter Three Outline Culture and SocietyDevelopment of Culture around the WorldCultural UniversalsInnovationDiffusion and Technology

Elements of CultureLanguageNormsSanctionsValues

Culture and the Dominant Ideology

Cultural VariationAspects of Cultural Variation

Attitudes toward Cultural Variation

Social Policy and Culture: Bilingualism

The Issue

The Setting

Sociological Insights

Policy Initiatives


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Chapter Three Outline (2)Chapter Three Outline (2)

BoxesResearch in Action: Dominant Ideology and Poverty

Eye on the Media: Knockin’ Rock—Making Music a Social Problem

Taking Sociology to Work: Burt Constable, Newspaper Columnist and Reporter


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Culture and SocietyCulture and Society

• Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior.

• Sociologically, culture does not refer to fine arts or intellectual taste.

Culture:


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Culture and SocietyCulture and Society

• Culture consists of all objects and ideas within a society.

• Sharing a common culture simplifies daily activities.

Culture:


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Development of CultureDevelopment of Culture Around the World Around the World

• All societies have developed certain common practices and beliefs called cultural universals.

• Cultural universals change over time and from one society to another.

Cultural Universals:


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Development of CultureDevelopment of Culture Around the World Around the World

• The process of introducing an idea or object that is new to a culture is known as innovation.

• Innovation may take the form of either discovery or invention.

Innovation:


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Culture Around the WorldCulture Around the World

Diffusion• Diffusion is the process by which a cultural item is

spread from group to group or society to society.

• Diffusion can occur through a variety of means.exploration military conquestmissionary work mass mediatourism Internet

Diffusion and Technology:


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Technology• Technology accelerates the diffusion of scientific

innovations.

• Technology transmits culture.



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Material Culture• Refers to the physical or technological aspects of

our daily lives, including:

food houses

factories raw materials



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Nonmaterial Culture• Refers to ways of using material objects and to:

customs beliefs communication

philosophies government



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Culture Lag• Refers to the period of maladjustment when the

nonmaterial culture is still adapting to new material conditions.


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Elements of CultureElements of Culture

• Language is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture.

• Language includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and gestures and expressions of nonverbal communication.

Language:


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Sapir-Worf Hypothesis• Language precedes thought.• Language is not a given.• Language is culturally determined.

Language:


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Mapping Life Worldwide: Mapping Life Worldwide: Languages of the WorldLanguages of the World

1 Germanic 6 Indo-Aryan2 Romance 7 Celtic3 Slavic 8 Greek4 Baltic 9 Armenian5 Iranian

Language FamiliesIndo-European

Eskimo-AleutNative AmericanHamito-SemiticNiger-CongoNilo-SaharanAustronesianAustralianSamoyedFinno-UgricBasqueKhosianUral-Altaic

CaucasianSino-TibetanPaleo-SiberianKoreanJapaneseBurushakiAustro-AsiaticVietnameseThai-KadaiPapuanDravidianUnpopulated Regions

Source: Richard T. Schaefer. 2002. Sociology: A Brief Introduction, 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill,Figure 3-1, p. 59 from Edward B. Espenshade, Jr. 1990. Rand McNally Goode’s World Atlas, 18/e:25.


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• Nonverbal communication is the use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate.

• Nonverbal communication is not the same in all cultures.

• Nonverbal communication is learned.

Nonverbal Communication:


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Norms are established standards of behavior maintained by a society.

Types of Norms• Mores (MOR-ays) are norms deemed highly

necessary for the welfare of society.• Folkways are norms governing everyday

behavior.

Norms:


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• Sanctions are penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm.

• Sanctions may be either positive or negative.

Sanctions:


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Norms and SanctionsNorms and Sanctions

Source: Richard T. Schaefer. 2002. Sociology: A Brief Introduction, 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Table 3-1, p. 63


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Penalties for Violations of NormsPenalties for Violations of Norms

Informal norms Formal norms

Severepenalties

Mildpenalties

Mores

Folkways

SuicideHomicide

Child molestationDrunken driving

Child AbuseChild support

Drunkenness in privateRudeness

Using obscene languageClothing styleTable manners

Public drunkennessTraffic violationsCurfew violations

LicensesParking regulations


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• Values are our collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper – or bad, undesirable, and improper – in a culture.

• Values influence people’s behavior.

• Values are criteria for evaluating actions of others.

Values:


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Culture and the Dominant IdeologyCulture and the Dominant Ideology

Dominant Ideology:• The term dominant ideology describes the set of

cultural beliefs and practices that help to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests.

• Dominant groups control wealth and property.• Dominant groups control the means of producing

beliefs about reality through:

religion education the media


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Cultural VariationCultural Variation

• A subculture is a segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the larger society.

• A subculture is a culture existing within a larger, dominant culture.

Subcultures

Aspects of Cultural Variation:


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• A counterculture is created when a subculture conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture.

• Examples of countercultures:

hippies

militia groups

Countercultures



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Culture Shock• Culture shock is experienced if one feels disoriented,

uncertain, out of place, or fearful when immersed in an unfamiliar culture.

Ethnocentrism• Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume that one’s

own culture and way of life are superior to all others.



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Cultural Relativism• Cultural relativism views people’s behaviors from

the perspective of their own culture.

Xenocentrism• Xenocentrism is an extension of cultural relativism;

it is the belief that the products, styles, or ideas of one’s society are inferior to those that originate elsewhere.



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Mapping Life Nationwide: Mapping Life Nationwide: States with Official English LawsStates with Official English Laws

ME

DE

RI

NJ

MD

CT

WA

OR

NV

CAUT

AZ NM

TX

OK

KS

NE

SD

NDMT

IDWY

CO MO

IA

MNWI

IL

KY

TN

ALMS

MI

OHIN

AR

LA

GA

FL

SC

NC

VA

PA

NY

VT

WV

NH

MA

HI

AK

States with OfficialEnglish Laws

Source: Richard T. Schaefer. 2002. Sociology: A Brief Introduction, 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Figure 3-4, p. 72. From U.S. English 1999.

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Copyright © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-1 3 Chapter Culture Culture and Society Development of Culture Around the World