Download Chapter 2: Cultural diversity

Mrs. Hansen/ Sociology
Section 1: The Meaning of
Culture

What is Culture?
 Material Vs. Non material
○ Cars, clothes, computers, cell phones, books,
buildings
○ Beliefs, family patterns, ideas, language,
political and economic systems
 Society Vs. Culture
○ Sociologist distinguish between the two
○ Society =people
○ Culture= material and non material products
that people create

Components of Culture:
 Technology
 Symbols
 Language
 Values
 Norms

Technology
 Physical objects and the rules for using
those objects
 Using tools requires knowledge of various
skills
 Sociologist interested in skills but the rules
of acceptable behavior when using material
culture

Symbols
 Through symbols we create culture and
communicate it to group members and
future generations
 Symbols have a shared meaning attached to
them
 Any word, gesture, image, sound, physical
object, event, or element of the natural world
○ Everyone must understand the symbol in
order for it to have meaning!

Language:
 Organization of written or spoken symbols
into a standardized system
○ Used daily to communicate and express ideas

Values:
 Shared Beliefs about what is good or bad,
right or wrong, desirable or undesirable
 The type of value held by a group help to
determine the character of its people and
the kinds of material and nonmaterial culture
they create
 The Yanomamo and the San people

Norms
 Shared rules of conduct that tell people how
act in specific situations
○ These are expectations for behavior not the
actual behavior
 Norms range in importance
○ Covering your mouth when you yawn
○ Don’t kill another human being
 Some apply to everyone others apply to
select groups
○ Marriage
 Folkways
○ Norms without great moral significance
 Mores
○ Norms with a lot of moral significance
 Laws
○ Written norms enacted and enforced by
governments that must be followed

Examining Culture
 Norms are Dynamic instead of Static
 Sociologists break down culture into levels
and studying them separately
○ Three Levels
1. Culture Traits
2. Culture Complexes
3. Culture Patterns
 Culture Traits
○ Simplest level of culture
○ An individual tool, act, or belief that is related
to a particular situation or need.
 Using utensils when eating
 Specific greetings when meeting people
 Culture Complexes:
○ Individual Culture traits combine to form
complexes
 A cluster of interrelated traits
○ Example = Football
 The ball, measuring chain, gear, and benches are the
material traits
 Kicking, passing, running, catching, blocking and
tackling are the acts of football
 There are also beliefs like following the rules, etc.
○ In an industrial society a variety of Complexes
exist and can be studied
 Culture Patterns
○ Complexes combine to form patterns
○ The combination of a number of culture
complexes
○ Example=
 Football, baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming,
tennis and track combine to form the American
athletic pattern
○ Other examples are related to specific areas
of society
 Agriculture, religion, education, family life, and
manufacturing

All of these combine to form a society’s
culture!!!