Chapter 3

Culture

Chapter Outline Culture and Society in a Changing World Components of Culture Technology, Cultural Change, and

Diversity A Global Popular Culture? Sociological Analysis of Culture Culture in the Future

Culture Culture is essential for survival

and communication with other people.

Culture is learned through interaction, observation and imitation.

Culture is fundamental for the survival of societies.

Culture The knowledge, language, values,

customs, and material objects that are passed from person to person and from one generation to the next in a human group or society.

Examples of cultural interruption Residential Schools Genocide

How is a culture disrupted? Establish a hierarchy Propaganda

Create resentment, paranoia, fear

Alter laws Dehumanize

remove basic rights Re-educate

Language, religion, family Violence – murder and destruction

Cultural Diversity The Danger of a Single Story Cultural differences between and within

nations are caused by: Natural circumstances

Climate, geography Social circumstances

Technology, composition of the population

How Much Do You Know About Culture and Intolerance Toward Others?

True or False? Core values in the

United States are opposed to racism and a belief in the superiority of one’s own group.

How Much Do You Know About Culture and Intolerance Toward Others?

False. Among the core American values identified by sociologists is the belief that one’s own racial or ethnic group should be valued above all others. Inherent in this belief may be the assumption of racism—that members of racial–ethnic categories other than one’s own are somehow inferior.

How Much Do You Know About Culture and Intolerance Toward Others?

True or False? As the United States is increasing in

diversity, most dominant group members (middle- and high-income white Anglo-Saxon Protestants) are becoming more tolerant of social and cultural diversity.

How Much Do You Know About Culture and Intolerance Toward Others?

False. Recent polls show that as the U.S. has

increased in diversity, most dominant-group members are not becoming more tolerant. Examples include recent demands that

immigration laws be strictly enforced, interest in establishing English as the “official” language of the United States, and pressure to eliminate affirmative action programs that benefit minority-group members.

Question During the last few years, has anyone in

your family brought a friend who was a the opposite race home for dinner?

GSS National Data

EducationNo High School

Diploma

High School

Diploma

College Education

Yes 24.4% 31.9% 42.1%

No 75.6% 68.1 57.9%

Question _____ consists of knowledge, language,

values, customs, and material objects.

a. Social structure

b. Society

c. Culture

d. Social organization

Answer: c Culture consists of knowledge, language,

values, customs, and material objects.

Gestures With Different Meanings in Other Societies

“Hook ‘em Horns”

or

“Your spouse is unfaithful”

Gestures With Different Meanings in Other Societies

“He’s crazy”

or

“You have a telephone call”

Gestures With Different Meanings in Other Societies

“Okay”

Or

“I’ll kill you”

Material Culture Physical creations that members

of a society make, use, and share. Items of material culture begin

as raw materials such as ore, trees, and oil.

They are transformed through technology.

Sociologists define technology as knowledge, techniques, and tools that make it possible for people to transform resources into usable forms, and the skills required to use them after they are developed.

Nonmaterial Culture Abstract or intangible

human creations of society that influence people’s behavior. Language, beliefs, values,

rules of behavior, family patterns, and political systems are examples of nonmaterial culture.

A central component of nonmaterial culture is beliefs.

Question All of the following statements regarding

culture are true, except:a. culture is essential for our survival.b. culture is essential for our

communications with other people.c. culture is fundamental for the survival of

societies.d. culture is always a stabilizing force for

societies.

Answer: c The following statement regarding culture

is not true: culture is fundamental for the survival of societies.

Cultural Universals Examples:

Appearance (bodily adornment, hairstyles)

Activities (sports, dancing, games, joking)

Social institutions (family, law, religion)

Practices (cooking, folklore, gift giving)

Components of Culture

SymbolAnything that meaningfully represents something else.

LanguageSymbols that express ideas and enable people to communicate.

Components of Culture

ValuesCollective ideas about what is right or wrong and good or bad.

NormsEstablished rules of behavior or standards of conduct.

Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis According to this theory, language shapes

the view of reality of its speakers. If people are able to think only through

language, then language must precede thought.

Keith Chen (Ted Talk) Could your language affect your ability to save money?

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis…

Does language shape how we think?

Linguistic Relativity and Linguistic Determinism

Language and Gender

Male Term Female Term Neutral Term

Teacher Teacher Teacher

Worker/employee

Working motherWorker

/employee

Janitor/maintenance man

Maid/cleaning lady

Custodial attendant

Languages Spokenin U.S. Households

LanguageTotal Estimated

Number of Speakers

English only 215,423,557

Spanish 28,101,052

Chinese 2,022,143

French 1,643,838

German 1,383,442

Tagalog 1,224,241

Languages Spokenin U.S. Households

LanguageTotal Estimated

Number of Speakers

Vietnamese 1,009,627

Italian 1,008,370

Korean 894,063

Russian 706,242

Polish 667,414

Arabic 614,582

Ten Core American Values

1. Individualism

2. Achievement and Success

3. Activity and Work

4. Science and Technology

5. Progress and Material Comfort

Ten Core American Values

6. Efficiency and Practicality

7. Equality

8. Morality and Humanitarianism

9. Freedom and Liberty

10. Racism and Group Superiority

Question Which of the following hypothetical

statements does not express a core U.S. value?

a. "How well does it work?"

b. "Is this a realistic thing to do?"

c. "My freedom is important to me."

d. "It is good to be lazy."

Answer: d The hypothetical statement, “It is good

to be lazy." does not express a core U.S. value.

NORMS

Norms Norms are established

rules of behavior or standards of conduct.

Prescriptive norms state what behavior is appropriate or acceptable.

Proscriptive norms state what behavior is inappropriate or unacceptable.

Social norms The "customary rules of behavior that coordinate our

interactions with others…May be explicit or implicit” Established and approved ways of doing things,

of dress, of speech and of appearance

These vary and evolve: through time from one age group to another between social classes and social groups.

What is deemed to be acceptable dress, speech or behavior in one social group may not be accepted in another.

Social norms tend to be tacitly established and maintained through body language and non-verbal communication between people in their normal social discourse.

Failure to follow the rules can result in severe punishments, including exclusion from the group

Formal and Informal Norms Formal norms are written

down and involve specific punishments for violators. Laws are the most common

type of formal norms.

Informal norms are unwritten standards of behavior understood by people who share a common identity. When individuals violate

informal norms, people may apply informal sanctions.

Folkways Everyday customs that may be violated

without serious consequences within a particular culture.

In the United States, folkways include: using underarm deodorant brushing our teeth wearing appropriate clothing for a

specific occasion

Mores Strongly held norms with moral and ethical

connotations that may not be violated without serious consequences. Taboos are mores so strong that violation is

considered extremely offensive and even unmentionable.

The incest taboo, which prohibits sexual relations between certain kin, is an example of a nearly universal taboo.

In short, mores "distinguish the difference between right and wrong, while folkways draw a line between right and rude“.

Laws Formal, standardized norms that have

been enacted by legislatures and are enforced by formal sanctions. Civil law deals with disputes among

persons or groups.

Criminal law deals with public safety and well-being.

Technology, Cultural Change, and Diversity

Changes in technology continue to shape the material culture of society: The introduction of the printing press more

than 500 years ago and the advent of computers and electronic communications in the twentieth century.

Cultural lag is a gap between the technical development of a society and its moral and legal institutions.

Cultural Diversity

Cultural Diversity of U.S. Society: Religion

Question In what religion were you raised?

Protestant Catholic Jewish

GSS National Data

Region East Midwest South West

Protestant 43.2% 67.8% 80.1% 58.8%

Catholic 52.2% 31.1% 18.3% 38.1%

Jewish 4.6% 1.1% 1.6% 3.1%

Cultural Diversity of U.S. Society: Income

Cultural Diversity of U.S. Society:Race/Ethnicity

Question In which of these groups did your total

family income, from all sources, fall last year before taxes, that is? $1K-$14999 $15K-24999 25K and up

GSS National Data

EducationNo High School

Diploma

High School

Diploma

College Education

$1K-$1499949.5% 22.6% 13.2%

$15K-2499921.1% 20.7% 13.3%

25K and up29.3% 56.7% 73.5%

Then and Now Changing Culture Activity

Group pics Two pics of contrast in culture

SubcultureThe Old Order AmishStrong faith in God.Rejection of worldly concerns.Rely on horse and buggy for transportation.

Examples of Countercultures Beatniks of the 1950’s Flower Children of the 1960’s Drug Enthusiasts of the 1970’s Punk Rockers of the 1980s….

Culture Shock, Ethnocentrism, and Cultural Relativism

Culture shock refers to the anxiety people experience when they encounter cultures radically different from their own.

Ethnocentrism is the assumption that one’s own culture is superior to others.

Cultural relativism views and analyzes another culture in terms of that culture’s own values and standards.

Question An alternative to ethnocentrism is:

a. racism

b. Prejudice

c. cultural relativism

d. xenophobia

Answer: c An alternative to ethnocentrism is

cultural relativism.

High Culture and Popular Culture High culture consists of activities patronized by

elite audiences, composed of members of the upper-middle and upper classes. Examples: classical music, opera, ballet, live

theater Popular culture consists of activities, products,

and services that are assumed to appeal to members of the middle and working classes. Examples: Rock concerts, spectator sports,

movies, soap operas, situation comedies

Three Forms of Popular Culture

1. Fads - a temporary but widely copied activity followed enthusiastically by large numbers of people.

2. Fashions - A style of behavior, thinking, or appearance that is longer lasting and more widespread than a fad.

3. Leisure activities

Cultural Imperialism The extensive infusion of one nation’s culture

into other nations. Some consider the use of the English

language in countries that speak other languages as a form of cultural imperialism.

If the world develops a global culture, it will likely include a diffusion of literature, music, clothing, and food from many societies and cultures.

Sociological Analysis of Culture

FunctionalistCulture helps people meet biological, instrumental and expressive needs.

ConflictIdeas can be used by the ruling class to affect members of other classes.

Sociological Analysis of Culture

Symbolic Interactionist

People create, maintain, and modify culture during their everyday activities.

PostmodernCulture is based on simulation of reality rather than reality itself.

Quick Quiz

1. ________ consists of the physical or tangible creations that members of a society make, use, and share.

a. Nonmaterial culture

b. Cultural universals

c. Material culture

d. High culture

Answer: c Material culture consists of the physical

or tangible creations that members of a society make, use, and share.

2. Language, beliefs, values, rules of behavior, family patterns, and political systems are examples of:

a. material culture

b. high culture

c. nonmaterial culture

d. cultural universals

Answer: c Language, beliefs, values, rules of

behavior, family patterns, and political systems are examples of nonmaterial culture.

3. An example of a symbol is:

a. a dove

b. all of the choices

c. a heart

d. Nazi swastika

Answer: b An example of a symbol is a dove, a

heart, and a Nazi swastika.

3. According to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis:

a. reality is objective and is easily understood by humans.

b. language shapes the view of reality of its speakers.

c. reality is based on the interactions of individuals.

d. with more knowledge, a person minimizes the influence of language.

Answer: b According to the Sapir-Whorf

Hypothesis, language shapes the view of reality of its speakers.

4. According to Karl Marx, and Marxist theorists:

a. none of the choices.

b. ideas are used by agents of the wealthy to affect the thoughts and actions of members of other classes.

c. ideas are effective for the working classes to motivate the wealthy.

d. ideas have little impact on the relations between the wealthy and poor in societies.

Answer: b According to Karl Marx, and Marxist

theorists, ideas are used by agents of the wealthy to affect the thoughts and actions of members of other classes.

5. Popular culture consists of:a. activities, products, and services that

are assumed to appeal primarily to members of the middle and working classes.

b. media events, which are typically on TV or the Internet.

c. ideas that can transform a society, but have yet to take shape or form.

d. fads to keep the populace uninterested in politics which can remove the status quo from power, disrupting organization and stability in everyday life.

Answer: a Popular culture consists of activities,

products, and services that are assumed to appeal primarily to members of the middle and working classes.

6. According to Functionalists, a function of popular culture is to:

a. keep members of society preoccupied so they do not realize inequalities within society.

b. keep members of society focused on the important things within society.

c. be the glue that holds society together.

d. teach cultural relativism.

Answer: c According to Functionalists, a function of

popular culture is to be the glue that holds society together.