Download The Meaning of Culture

Looking at Culture, Values and
Norms
 Some think that it is art,
literature, fancy dining
experience, fashionable clothes and
tons of money
 Culture for sociologists means
something very different
 It is the shared product of that human
group, including both physical objects and
the beliefs values and behaviors shared by
a group
 Physical objects create =Material
culture
 Examples of material culture
 Automobiles, clothing, books, buildings,
cooking utensils and computers
 Abstract creations by humans=
Nonmaterial culture
 Language, ideas, beliefs, rules, skills
 A group of mutually
interdependent people
who have organized in
such a way as to share a
common culture and
feeling of unity.
 Society= people
 Culture = products that
people create
 Symbols A symbol is anything
that stand for something else.
 Any word, gesture, image, sound, physical
object, event or element of the natural world
can serve as a symbol
 Language the organization of
written or spoken symbols into a
standardized system
 Ever gone to a foreign country? Not
understood what someone was saying or
talking about?
 Values are shared beliefs about
what is good or bad, right or wrong,
desirable or undesirable
 Types of values held by a group help to
determine the character of the people and
the kinds of material and nonmaterial
culture they create
 Norms Are the shared rules of
conduct that tell people how to act
in specific situations
 Folkways are norms
that do not have great
moral significance
attached to them
 Common customs of
everyday life
 Mores Have great
moral significance
attached to them
 Laws Norms that are
important to the
stability or well-being of
society often are
formalized as laws
Find, list out and discuss the culture,
values and norms that would be present
on your island based of the drawings and
your 10 rules…