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Ch. 4-Culture
I.
Culture is the values, beliefs, behavior & material objects that
together form a people’s way of life. Culture is a shared way of
life; includes material and non-material culture.
II.
Characteristics of Culture:
Culture is learned-the process of learning a culture is
socialization
Culture is shared-but may include diversity
Culture is taken for granted-it’s what we consider “normal”
Culture is symbolic-only humans possess culture
Culture varies across time and place
a. Ethnocentrism-view your own culture as superior to others.
Practicing ethnocentrism can act as a barrier to cultural
understanding.
b. Cultural Relativism-cultures must be understood and
respected on their own terms. It is the process of recognizing
differences in cultural values.
c. Xenocentrism-view your own culture as inferior
d. Ideology-System of concepts and relationships that promote
understanding of cause and effect. An ideology is a set of
shared beliefs that explains the social world and guides
peoples’ actions. Religion and science are ideological
frameworks.
e. Values-Values are ideals that underline a culture’s moral
standards (culturally defined standards, moral beliefs). They
are more general than norms (how values tell us to behave);
expressed through norms and sanctions-can be the basis for
cultural cohesion or a source of conflict. Values and beliefs
may stem from religion, myth or science; they provide a
meaning system around which culture is organized.
Globalization of values-greater acceptance of shared values
around the world. It is important to understand the global
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aspects of culture. There are universal tendencies and
common values across many different societies. The global
flow of information, ideas and products are more similar
than ever before in history.
f. Norms and Sanctions
Norms: rules for behavior; how values are put into play
Folkways: least stringent-rules of etiquette
Mores: based on moral rules
Laws: legal rules
Taboos: no-no’s
Sanctions-rewards or punishments for violations of norms
III.
Culture as a Symbolic System
a. Emotional impact of symbols-religious symbols, flags, etc.
b. Language provides distinctive cultural identity and can bias
one’s perceptions and behavior. Language use varies with
gender, based on cultural norms and roles prescribed for
men and women ex. Women use more tag questions, men
more direct, etc.
c. What separates humans from other animals-symbolic
language, humor-ex. Humor based on cultural stereotypes:
functionalists see this as social glue; conflict theorists see
this as masked aggression.
V.
Cultural Change
a. Diffusion-spread of culture from one society to another
b. Globalization- important instigator of social change and
affects all aspects of the social world
c. Technology (the interplay of machines, tools, skills, and
procedures for the accomplishment of tasks) and popular
culture spread through media but values are assimilated
more slowly creating cultural lag.
Cultural lag-a delay in cultural adjustments to changing
social conditions. Material culture changes faster than nonmaterial culture.
When culture changes rapidly or someone
is suddenly thrust into a new cultural situation, the result can
be culture shock.
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Culture shock is the personal disorientation one feels when
confronted with a culture or society very different from
one’s own.
VI.
Theoretical Perspectives on Culture
a. Functionalism-cultural universals shared by all cultures,
such as religious rituals, incest taboo, language aid in
cultural survival
b. Conflict-suggest that the ideology of the dominant group
controls its value system
c. Symbolic Interactionism-cultures often keep
disadvantageous customs because of socially constructed
emotional attachments
VII. Cultural Diversity
a. Subcultures: a group united by a set of concepts, values and
shared meaning specific to members of that group. They
accept much of the dominant culture, but are set apart from
it by one or more culturally significant characteristics. The
significance of being different: values set it apart from
mainstream; participants often marginalized or seen as
“weird.”
b. Countercultures: Counterculture refers to those groups that
not only differ from the dominant culture, but whose norms
and values may be incompatible with those to the dominant
culture. Their actions may be in direct opposition to those of
the dominant culture.
VIII. Media
Media is any format that carries, presents or communicates
information. Today, all media is mass media.
Media Effects
a. Advertising-short-term, deliberate effects.
b. Public service announcements: educating the public (longterm effects)
c. Unintended effects (latent functions)-long-term effects such
as racism, sexism and desensitization to violence that are
inappropriate to mass audiences.
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d. Communication monopolies: Most broadcasting companies
are privately owned and supported by advertising. This limits
“freedom of the press” and the ability to express a broad range
of opinions. The Internet has balanced out communication
monopolies.
IX.
Computers and the Internet
a. More than one billion people use the Internet.
Access to the Internet is not evenly distributed (the Digital
Divide), which leads to gaps in information and exacerbates
inequality. There is differential access to technological
advances based on SES (socioeconomic status). There is
stratification in information/technology both within
countries, such as urban/rural differences (social divide) and
between countries (global divide). This reinforces existing
economic differences.
b. Cyber-culture refers to the characteristics of the Internet.
The Internet has characteristics of all culture, with its own
distinct set of norms and values.
Sociologists have always been interested in the social
aspects of technology; the digital world refers to the
emergence of new technologies, particularly communication
technologies.
Sociologists have tracked the evolution of technology, from
assembly lines to automated factories to the digital world
(computers, cell phones, and the Internet). Sociologists are,
for example, interested in social networking as it is
conducted in the virtual environments of sites such as
Facebook.
Consumption - The process by which people obtain and
utilize goods and services. Consumption shapes culture and
can become a cultural phenomenon – the iPhone and the
“app” revolution. Consumption and globalization are deeply
intertwine
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Ch. 4-Culture.doc
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