Sociology ch. 3 Culture norms and values

1. Culture and Social Structures Components of Culture

2. The Basis of Culture • Culture – a way of life for a group of people. It is the learned knowledge, language, values, beliefs, customs, behaviors, symbols, and material objects that are shared by society and generally accepted without thinking about them. They are usually passed down from one generation to the next. • Includes ideas, values, beliefs, physical objects, artifacts, behaviors of a group • How a group eats food (chopsticks, silverware, hands) • Marriage traditions • Football in America

3. The Basis of Culture • Society – A territory that is lived in by a group of people who share the same culture. • Group of mutually interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and feeling of unity • Cultural behavior must be “learned”

4. The Basis of Culture • Society– A territory that is lived in by a group of people who share the same culture. • Group of mutually interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and feeling of unity • Cultural behavior must be “learned”

5. Components of culture Symbols– Anything that stands for something else Each symbol has meaning attached to it, that everyone in a particular culture understands. It can be gestures, objects, and words that form the basis of human communication

6. Material Culture • Physical objects created by humans. Artifacts are the physical objects of material culture • Money, houses, clothing • Nice cars in the United States

7. Non-Material Culture • Abstract Human Creations • Languages, beliefs, ideas, and rules • Skills, work practices • Economic and political systems • Family patterns and relationships • Cultural Universal • Cultural trait that is present in all cultures such as rules of etiquette

8. Culture • Belief • An idea about the nature of reality • Can be based on culture • Varies from culture to culture • Reflex • Automatic response to a stimulus • May vary based on cultural values • Family relationships • Drive • Inherited impulse (drinking when thirsty) • Can vary from culture to culture

9. Values

10. Values

11. Values • Value– an idea about what kind of behavior is desirable and good that is shared by the people in a society. It is the shared beliefs of what is considered to be good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable. • Stealing is bad, all children in the United States are entitled to education • Value can determine the character of a group of people and the kinds of material and non-material culture they create. • Changes over time, but usually remains relatively stable during any one person’s lifetime • Civil rights, gay rights, etc.

12. Norms • Norms – shared rules of conduct of how people act in specific situations • Respect for the flag • Marriage expectations • Manners • Shaking hands to say hello • Expectations for behaviors • Formal – written down and specify strict punishments for violators • Informal – understood but not precisely recorded

13. NORMS – Folkways • Folkways are norms that don’t have a great moral significance. They are often referred to as customs. • throwing rice at a wedding • eating with utensils • facing the door in an elevator

14. Norms – Mores • Mores – Norm with a great moral significance which members of a society are expected to follow. They are often based on the definitions of right and wrong. • Violations could lead to severe penalties and social imbalance • stealing, cheating, lying, murder • More serious mores can be institutionalized into formal norms such as laws to enforce compliance

15. Norms – Laws and Taboos Laws • Norms that are formally defined written rules, which are enacted and/or enforced by the government. • Crime and Punishment Taboos • A norm society holds so strongly that violating it results in extreme disgust. The violator may be considered unfit to live in that society and when violated it calls for strong punishment. • Slavery, Cannibalism, Homosexuality

16. Enforcing Rules within Norms • Sanctions are rewards and/or punishments used to encourage people to follow and obey norms. • Formal Sanctions are applied by official people to enforce laws. • Imprisonment, loss of license, tardies, car towing, promotion at work • Informal Sanctions are rewards and punishments enforced by regular people in a group. • You ask another person to lower their voice in a movie theater, gifts, thumbs up, smile, frowns, gossip