Transcript Essentials of Sociology, 7th Edition

Essentials of
Sociology
9th Edition
Chapter 2: Culture
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1
Culture

Chapter Overview

What is Culture?

Values in U.S. Society

Components of
Symbolic Culture

Technology in the
Global Village

Many Cultural
Worlds: Subcultures
and Countercultures

Cultural Lag,
Diffusion, and Labeling
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2
Culture

What is Culture?
 Culture is:
 The language, beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors
passed on from one generation to the next
 How is this accomplished?
 Material vs. Nonmaterial Cultures
 Cultural Lag: When nonmaterial culture lags behind
material culture
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3
Culture

Ethnocentrism and
Culture Shock
 What is Normal, Natural, or Usual?
 We believe our ways are “Normal”
 Ethnocentrism-the belief that our culture is the
“best”
 Culture Shock- coming into contact with a culture
that is different from what we know
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
4
Culture
Cultural
Relativism
 Understanding a cultures practices from
their perspective
 i.e., Bull Fighting in Spain
 Richard Edgerton - “Sick Cultures”
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5
Culture

Components of
Symbolic Culture
 Symbols
 Gestures
 Language
 Norms (Folkways, Mores, Taboos)
 Values
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
6
Culture
Five Purposes
of Language





Allows Human Experience to Be Cumulative
Provides a Social or Shared Past
Provides a Social or Shared Future
Allows Shared Perspectives
Allows Complex, Shared, Goal-Directed Behavior
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7
Culture

Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis
 Instead of objects determining our
language, our language determines the
way we see objects
 i.e. Eskimos and snow
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
8
Culture
Norms and
Sanctions




Norms - Expectations or rules for behavior
Informal and Formal Norms
Norms will change as cultures change
Sanctions - Reaction to following or breaking
norms
 Positive Sanctions
 Negative Sanctions
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
9
Culture
Folkways, Mores,
and Taboos
 Folkways - Norms that are not
strictly enforced
 Mores - Norms, when broken, go
against a society’s basic core values
 Taboos - Norms, when broken,
are considered repulsive
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
10
Culture
Subcultures and
Countercultures
Subculture:
 A world within the dominant culture
 The norms and values do not clash with those of
the dominant culture
Countercultures:
 A world within the dominant culture
 The norms and values clash with those of the
dominant culture
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
11
Culture
Values in U.S. Society
Achievement and
Success
Progress
Equality
Individualism
Material Comfort
Racism and
Group Superiority
Activity and Work
Humanitarianism
Education
Efficiency and
Practicality
Freedom
Religiosity
Science and
Technology
Democracy
Romantic Love
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
12
Culture
Value Clusters and
Contradictions
 Value
Clusters: Values that
are similar to each other
 Value
Contradictions: Values
that contradict one another
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
13
Culture
Emerging Values
 Leisure
 Self-fulfillment
 Physical Fitness
 Youthfulness
 Concern for the Environment
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
14
Culture
Ideal vs. Real Culture
 Sociologists use the term ideal culture to refer to the
values, norms, and goals that a group considers ideal,
worth aiming for (i.e Success).
 Sociologists call the norms and values that people
actually follow real culture.
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
15
Culture
Technology in the Global Village
 Central to a group’s material culture is its technology.
Technology can be equated with tools.
 New technology refers to an emerging technology that
has a significant impact on social life.
Technology sets the framework for a group’s
nonmaterial culture.
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
16
Culture
Cultural Diffusion and
Cultural Leveling
 Cultural Diffusion: The spreading of cultural
characteristics from one culture to another
 Why is this happening so rapidly?
 Cultural Leveling: When cultures start to become
similar to each other
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
17
Culture