Transcript Sociology * Chapter 3

Chapter 3
Culture
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
The Basis of Culture
culture
Culture comes from the Latin cultus meaning “to care about.”
During the time of Enlightenment, culture began to refer to a host
of human endeavors. Today, it refers to the “ideas, practices and
material objects associated with a particular group of people.”
society
When a specific territory is inhabited by people who share a
common culture, this group is known as a society.
Most modern nations can be characterized by the term society. The
United States’ society is often considered a multicultural or
heterogeneous one while Japan, a country where near 99% of the
population are ethnic Japanese, is considered a homogenous
society.
instincts
Instincts are innate (unlearned) patterns of behavior.
Instincts can include eating, procreation, the desire to fight and the
need to communicate. However, a society is often measured by how
far beyond the base instincts they go in addressing the needs of the
group.
reflexes
Reflexes are an automated reaction to physical stimulus.
Sociologists have often worked to see whether they can mute
reflexes or artificially re-create them, as Russian sociologist Ivan
Pavlov attempted to do with his dogs.
Reflexes could include crying when in pain, jerking a hand away
from a hot surface or having a foot kick out when the knee is hit just
right.
drives
Drives refer to an impulse designed to reduce discomfort.
When we are hungry, we are driven to eat. When tired, we are
driven to sleep.
sociobiology
Sociobiology is the study of the biological basis of human behavior.
Sociobiologists suggest that behavior that assist people are
biologically based, such as education, friendship and reproduction.
However, others say that such definitions have been used to
classify various people as inferior, suggesting there are too many
variables in society to suggest purely a biological causation.
evolution
Evolution is a process of change from one stage of development to
another.
In U.S. culture, there has been a great deal of evolution over the last
fifty years in the attitudes towards social issues, including
everything from marijuana to gay marriage to the idea of a national
health care system.
Chapter 3, Lesson 2
Language and Culture
hypothesis of linguistic relativity
Based on the research of sociologists Edward Sapir and Benjamin
Whorf, language reflects perception. The way our language
describes something highlights how our society perceives that thing.
The Inuit language has multiple words for snow, suggesting the
importance of snow to their culture and their perspective. French
does not have a word for fair but rather uses the term juste. This
thinking encourages a group-think that fits with the French concept
of all people being either French or not French.
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Norms and Values
norms
Norms are the rules defining appropriate and inappropriate
behavior.
In the United States, the shaking of hands is appropriate as a form
of greeting (a norm) while the slapping of a child for corrective
purposes in public, while previously accepted, is no longer
considered appropriate.
folkways
Folkways are norms of behavior and thinking that are not
connected to any religious or moral standard of behavior.
These are norms without the strong social expectation and
therefore, breaking such folkways is not seen as terribly
problematic. That is not to say that breaking some folkways will
not cause problems. For example, for a man to not give up a seat
to a woman, particularly an elderly or pregnant woman, will
illicit disapproval from those around him.
mores
Mores are norms that have a moral quality to them and should be
followed by all members of a particular society.
Whether it is the idea that able-body men should be working for a
living or loudly using profanity when there are small children
around, mores have a much stronger support and have a greater
level of expectation.
taboo
A taboo is a rule of behavior, the violation of such would typically
call for punishment by society.
Taboos can range from the killing of a cow in India to the eating of
pork by observant Jews and Muslims. It is said that the only
universal taboo is incest, something condemned by all societies.
law
A law is a norm that is legally defined and enforced by
government officials – i.e.: the police.
There is a law in Texas, everywhere else for that matter, that says
it is illegal to drive 80 m.p.h. in school zone.
formal and informal sanctions
There are two major forms of sanctions – the reward or
punishment used to encourage people to adhere to norms in a
society.
Formal sanctions are imposed by those granted with special
powers to do so. This can range from a president awarding the
Congressional Medal of Honor to a deserving soldier to a judge
dictating that one pay for damages as a result of their behavior.
Informal sanctions include those rewards and punishments that
can be dealt out by most members of society. Thanking someone
for helping move a car out of the way or staring at someone who
is talking loudly in public on their phone.
values
Values are the broad ideas that people believe are beneficial to
society.
Values can include the belief in freedom or democracy, which can
filter down to all levels and components of society, whether they
deal directly with the political sense of these words or not.
Chapter 3, Lesson 4
Beliefs and Material Culture
material and nonmaterial culture
Material culture can include cultural traits that are tangible such as
a car, art or sporting equipment.
Nonmaterial culture, therefore, includes those cultural traits that are
not tangible, such as ideas, beliefs and knowledge. This can include
Judaism, democracy or history.
beliefs
Beliefs are the ideas about the nature of reality.
A citizen of ancient China had the belief that their leader was
ordained by God, given a “mandate from Heaven” to rule. Hindus
believe that their spirit travels through several incarnations until
they have reached a level of purity to escape reincarnation and enter
paradise.
ideal and real culture
An ideal culture is the cultural guidelines that people within a
society claim to accept while real culture refers to those guidelines
that societal members actually accept.
In the United States, honesty is considered a valued virtue,
treasured by all members of society. However, in a real sense, we as
a society have turned a blind eye to dishonesty or have openly
embraced those who were dishonest.
The fact that, as a society, we do not always live up to our values,
does not make ideal culture irrelevant but it does highlight a
struggle that a society has in reinforcing certain behaviors.
Chapter 3, Lesson 5
Cultural Diversity and Similarity
social categories
Social categories are groups of people who share a social
characteristic.
These groups can range from women, to Catholics to baseball
players.
subculture and counterculture
A subculture is a group that is a part of the dominant culture but
displays divergent behavior that separates them from the larger
group. An example of a subculture might be a Mexican-American
community or Chinese Mutual-Aid Society or musicians.
A counterculture is a group that deliberately separates itself from
the dominant culture, opposing its core values or central beliefs.
Groups ranging from the beatniks of the 1950s and the hippies of
the 1960s to the punk of the 1970s and the Goth crowd of recent
years. Seldom is this a complete rejection of norms but simply the
replacement of one norm for another.
ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism refers to the tendency of judging others in terms of
the standards of our own society.
Unfortunately, Americans have done this often to groups including
Africans, Native Americans, Asians and Arabs. Conversely, many
cultures do the same with Americans.
cultural universals and particulars
Cultural universals refer to general cultural traits found in every
culture, such as sports, cooking, education and etiquette. They are
the traits that unite us all as human beings.
Cultural particulars are the ways in which a culture might express a
universal trait. An American might care for their newborn child by
the woman being constantly around them. However, among the
Manus in New Guinea, it is the man who is in charge of child
rearing.