Download ch 3 The basis of culture

The basis of culture
I. Culture & society
A. To sociologists, culture is all the shared
products of human groups – things that people
create = includes both physical objects and the
beliefs, values & behaviors shared by a group.
1. Physical objects (material culture)
things like skyscrapers, cars, clothing,
restaurants, books, cell phones etc
2. Nonmaterial culture of the U.S. –
includes beliefs, rules, customs, family
systems, language, work practices,
capitalist economy, etc.
• B. Culture helps to explain human social behavior –
what people do & don’t do, what they like & dislike,
what they believe or don’t believe, etc.
• C. Culture provides the blueprint that people in a
society use to guide their relationships with others
• D. Culture & society are tightly interwoven – one
can’t exist without the other, but they aren’t
identical
– 1. Society – a group of people who live in a defined
territory & participate in a common culture
– 2. Culture – is that society’s total way of life
– 3. Human behavior is based on culture and since people
aren’t born knowing their culture, human cultural
behavior must be learned
II. Culture & heredity
A. Instincts – genetically inherited patterns of
behavior
1. Nonhuman animals are highly dependent on
instincts for survival, but instincts aren’t enough
to solve the problems that humans face
B. Why is culture more important than instincts in
determining human behavior?
1. If humans were controlled by instincts
alone, they would all behave the same way
with respect to those instincts
2. Without instincts to dictate the type of
shelter to build, the kind of food to eat, the
time of year to have children or when to
mate, humans are forced to create and learn
their own ways of thinking, feeling, and
behaving. (Humans rely on the culture they
have created)
C. How does heredity affect behavior?
1. Nature vs. Nurture – studies of identical
twins – researchers determined that about ½
of your personality traits are determined by your
genetic makeup and about ½ by biological
factors.
2. Humans have reflexes – simple, biologically
inherited, automatic reactions to physical stimuli
3. Humans also have drives – biologically inherited
impulses to reduce discomfort. ( we want to
eat, drink, sleep and associate with others)
4. Genetically inherited personality, reflexes, and
drives don’t control human social behavior –
humans rely on their culture
III. Sociobiology
A. Sociobiology – the study of the biological basis of
human behavior. It combines Darwin’s theory of
natural selection with modern genetics. (Darwin
said organisms evolve through natural selection –
plants and animals best suited to an environment
survive & reproduce, while the rest perish
B. How do sociologists view human behavior?
1. Sociobiologists don’t draw a sharp line
between human and nonhuman animals
2. Sociobiologists believe that most human
behavior is determined by biological factors
C. What are some criticisms of sociobiology?
1. The importance placed on genetics could be
used as a justification to label specific races as inferior
or superior
2. There is too much variation in societies around
the world for human behavior to be explained on
strictly biological grounds
D. Is there a middle ground?
1. Most sociologists today believe that
human behavior results from a blending of
heredity and environmental influences, with
environmental factors having the most influence
Language & culture
I. Symbols, language & culture
A. What are symbols?
1. Symbols – things that stand for or represent something
else and has a shared meaning attached to it.
2. Any word, gesture, image, sound, physical object, event or
element of the natural world would be a symbol as long as
people recognize that it carries a particular meaning
3. A symbol may have different meanings attached. Ex =
Confederate flag – for many African Americans it represents
oppression/slavery, for many white Southerners it represents
cultural heritage
B. How are language & culture related
1. Language is probably the most obvious
aspect of any culture – it allows us to create
culture
2. It’s the organization of written or spoken
symbols into a standardized system. Words,
when organized according to accepted rules
of grammar, can be used to express any idea
3. The use of language is very important in
our daily life. With language, humans can
pass their experiences, ideas and knowledge
to others.
II. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
A. Sapir Whorf Hypothesis – hypothesis of linguistic
relativity – theory states that our idea/perception
of reality depends largely upon the particular
language we have learned. (Since languages
differ, perceptions differ as well)
B. What can vocabulary tell you about culture?
1. When something is important to a society, its language
will have many words to describe it. (Time in the U.S. =
minute, hour, evening, afternoon, day, decade century etc)
2. When something is unimportant to people, they may
not have even one word for it. Ex = English language has
only a few words to describe snow, the Inuit (Eskimo)
language has over 20
C. Does the hypothesis of linguistic relativity mean
we are prisoners of our language?
1. We aren’t trapped by our language.
Exposure to another language or to new
words can change a person’s perception of
the world.
2. You can expand or limit your outlook,
depending on how you use language
D. What other factors help to shape our perception
of reality?
1. Cultures may differ in many ways, and
these differences influence how their
members experience the world
Norms and Values
I.
Norms: The rules we live by
A. Norms – rules defining appropriate & inappropriate
behavior
B. Norms are expectations for behavior not actual behavior –
we expect people to pay their bills but some don’t
C. There are many norms in society ranging from the
unimportant (cover your mouth when you yawn) to the
very important (don’t kill other humans)
D. Some norms apply to everyone in society, others are
applied selectively. Marriage – in American society, no
one is allowed to marry more than one person at a time.
But, some people (clergy, children) can’t get married at all.
E. Even important norms are applied selectively – killing
another person is applied differently to the military and
the police acting in the line of duty, than it is most
members of society
F. Anything can be considered appropriate when norms
approve of it. Once norms are learned, members of a
society use them to guide their social behavior
II. Folkways, Mores, and Laws
A. There are 3 basic types of norms: folkways, mores
and laws. These three vary in their importance within a
society and their violation is tolerated to different degrees.
B. Folkways – norms that don’t have a great moral
importance attached to them
1. They are the common customs of
everyday life – shake hands when
introduced to someone; if male, you remove
your hat in church; get to class on time, do
your homework, etc.
2. Because folkways aren’t considered vital
to group welfare, disapproval of those who
break them isn’t very great
C. Mores – norms that have great moral importance
and should be followed by members of a society.
They are vital to the well being of society.
1. Conformity to mores draws strong social
approval; violation brings strong disapproval
2. The more serious mores are taboos. Taboo
– rule of behavior, the violation of which calls for
strong punishment. (Although definitions of incest
vary from society to society, the incest taboo
(forbidding sexual contact with close relatives) is
generally regarded as the only taboo present in all
societies)
D. How do laws differ from mores?
1. Law – norms that are formally defined
and enforced by officials
2. Folkways and mores emerge slowly and
are often unconsciously created, while laws are
consciously created and enforced.
3. Laws often remain on the books for a
long time after the mores of a society have
changed
III. Enforcing the rules
A. Sanctions – rewards and punishments used
to encourage people to follow norms.
B. What are formal sanctions?
1. Sanctions that may be applied only by officially
designated persons, such as judges or teachers.
2. Formal sanctions can be positive or negative. Ex
= teacher rewards outstanding students with A’s.
Commit a crime and you may go to jail
3. Formal punishments range widely in their
severity – goes from “getting a slap on the wrist”
to “having the book thrown at you”
C. What are informal sanctions?
1. Rewards or punishments that can be applied by
most members of society
2. Informal sanctions can be positive also
ex = Positive informal sanctions – standing
ovation, compliments, smiles, a pat on the back,
etc.
ex = Negative informal sanction – frowns,
gossip, scolding, insults, being ignored, etc.
3. After we reach a certain age, most of us conform
without the threat of sanctions. We may conform
because we think the behavior expected is
appropriate, because we wish to avoid guilt
feelings, or because we fear social disapproval
IV. Values – The basis of norms
A. What are values?
1. Values – broad ideas about what is good or
desirable shared by people in a society
2. Values are so general that they don’t dictate precise
ways of thinking, feeling and behaving
3. Different societies or groups within the same society
can have different norms based on the same values
4. Ex = Freedom – former Soviet Union – meant the
right to have a job, medical care and education.
Freedom – America – right to free speech and
assembly, the right to engage in private enterprise,
and the right to a representative gov’t
B. Why are values important?
1. Values influence human social behavior
because they form the basis for norms
2. Values, because they are so general, are
involved in most aspects of daily life.
(Freedom in America affects how people
get along, how businesses and
organizations are run, how the legal
system works, how people worship, etc.)
V. Basic values in the USA
In the 1970’s, sociologist Robin Williams outlined a set of
values that are central to the American way of life
A. Personal achievement and success
1. We are a nation built on individualism &
competition
2. A belief in PAS is most evident in our
employment where achievement is measured in
terms of power and wealth
B. Activity and success
1. Discipline, dedication, and hard work are seen as
signs of virtue – being on time, finishing a job, a
job well done, etc.
2. People who choose not to work are usually seen
as lazy or even immoral. Those who are poor are
there because of their own cause
C. Efficiency and Practicality
1. Americans tend to be practical and inventive people
– every problem has a solution. We love to rely on science
and technology
2. Americans tend to judge items on their usefulness
and people on their ability to get things done
D. Equality
1. America was founded on the principle of human
equality
2. Americans today believe human equality means
equality of opportunity – every individual in the U.S.
should have an equal chance at success
E. Democracy
1. Americans believe in democracy – all citizens are
entitled to equal rights and equal opportunity under
the law.
2. In a democracy, the people elect their gov’t officials
– male or female. Power isn’t in the hands of an elite
few (in theory)
F. Group superiority – despite the concern for
equality and opportunity, people in the U.S.
tend to place a greater value on people of their
own race, ethnic group, social class or religious
group
Do these values still persist in the U.S. today?
Although William’s analysis of American values
remains basically sound, some sociologists believe
the list is incomplete. They would add optimism,
honesty and friendliness.
Beliefs and material culture
I. Beliefs and Physical objects
A. Nonmaterial culture – ideas, knowledge, and
beliefs that influence people’s behavior
B. Why do beliefs matter?
1. Beliefs – ideas about the nature of reality.
2. Beliefs can be true or false and beliefs are important
because people base their behavior on what they believe,
regardless of how true or false they may be
C. What is material culture?
1. Material culture – concrete, tangible
objects within a culture – cars basketballs,
highways, etc. and have no meaning or use
apart from the meanings that people give them
D. How is material culture related to
nonmaterial culture?
1. The use & meanings of physical objects
can vary among societies. Ex = in the U.S. out
of service buses, trains and trolley cars have
been converted to restaurants or other
businesses
• 2. The cultural meaning of physical objects isn’t
determined by the physical characteristics of the
objects. It’s based on the beliefs, norms and
values people hold with regard to them. Ex =
churches – in the past only pianos and organs
were used in church services. Today guitars,
drums etc. are being used. The instruments (in
the past they weren’t “holy” enough) haven’t
changed, but the cultural meanings placed on
them has
II. Ideal and real culture
A. Ideal culture – refers to cultural guidelines
publicly embraced by members of a society
B. Real culture – refers to actual behavior
patterns, which often conflict with the guidelines.
Ex = one value of America’s ideal culture is honesty,
but in real culture honesty isn’t always practiced
(cheat on a test, unethical business practice, cheat
on taxes, etc.)
C. Does the fact that we sometimes ignore cultural
guidelines make ideal culture worthless? No
because in an imperfect world, ideal culture
provides high standards. These are ideals that
most people attempt to reach most of the time.
People who deviate too far from the ideal pattern
are sanctioned and this helps to preserve the ideal
culture.
Cultural diversity & similarity
I. Cultural change
A. All cultures experience change. Norms, values,
and beliefs are fairly stable, but they change over
time.
B. Why does culture change?
1. Culture changes for 3 reasons:
a. Discovery – the process of finding something
that already exists. Ex = the generally unrecognized
athletic abilities of females. This is changing the
perception of women and the relationship between males
and females
Reasons for cultural change cont.
b. Invention – the creation of something new. Ex =
computers and cell phones have greatly altered
our way of life
c. Diffusion – a process of spreading culture traits from
one society to another ex = people borrow ideas, acts,
beliefs, etc. from other societies. The more contact a
society has with other societies, the more ideas will be
borrowed – tacos, pizza and hamburgers can be found on
menus all over the world
II. Cultural diversity
A. What are subcultures and countercultures?
1. Subculture – a culture that lives within a
culture
a. most subcultures don’t reject all of
the values and practices of the larger
society
b. most subcultures don’t present a
threat to society
2. Counterculture – a subculture that rejects
the values and norms of the larger society and
replaces them with a new set of cultural
patterns.
a. these countercultural practices are
intended to challenge the values of the
larger society. Ex = “goth” and “punk”
scene, Hare Krishnas, youth movement
of the 1960’s etc.
III. Ethnocentrism – viewing your won culture as superior to all
others – tendency to believe that your own ideas and ways of
doing things are best
A. Examples of ethnocentrism
1. The Olympics – a country’s final ranking in
this athletic competition is frequently seen as a reflection
of the country’s worth and status on the world stage.
2. Regional rivalries in the U.S. – Texas says it
has the biggest and best of everything; New
Yorkers say Los Angeles has no culture
B. Does ethnocentrism help or hurt society?
1. It may help if not taken to the extreme.
a. Stability is promoted because
traditions and behaviors are highly
valued
b. If society is too rigid, it becomes
inflexible & can prevent change for the
better. Ex = Chinese built a wall to keep
both invaders and new ideas out
IV. Cultural Universals
A. Cultural Universals – traits that exist in all
cultures
1. In the 1940’s, anthropologist George
Murdock studied 100’s of different cultures
and made a list of over 60 cultural universals
– cooking, sports, religion, body adornment,
dancing, music. Etc.
B. How are cultural universals expressed?
1. Cultural universals aren’t always carried
out in the same way – different cultures have
developed quite different ways to express
universals.
2. Cultural particulars – the ways in which a
culture expresses universal traits. Ex = child
rearing is a cultural universal. In the U.S.
women have traditionally been responsible for
this but in other countries it is the man’s
responsibility
C. Why do cultural universals exist?
1. They exist because of the biological similarity
shared by all human beings. Ex = if a society is to
survive, children must be born and cared for, and
some type of family structure must exist.
2. They exist because of the physical environment.
Ex = Humans can’t survive without protection from
the environment, so some kind of shelter must be
created.
3. They exist because societies face many of the
same social problems. Ex = if a society is to
survive, new members must be taught the culture,
goods and services must be produced and
exchanged, jobs must be assigned and work must
be accomplished