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Ch. 3. Culture. What is Culture?. Culture consists of material objects, patterns of thinking, feeling, l anguage , b eliefs , values , norms , and behaviors passed from one generation to the n ext Material Culture Nonmaterial Cultures. Three Dimensions of Culture.
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Ch. 3 Culture
What is Culture? • Culture consists of material objects, patterns of thinking, feeling,language, beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors passed from one generation to the next • Material Culture • Nonmaterial Cultures
Three Dimensions of Culture • Normative – consists of the standards for appropriate behavior for a group; composed of norms, sanctions, and values. • Cognitive – refers to the complex of ideas and knowledge; includes language, beliefs • Material - consists of the concrete, tangible aspects of a culture.
Culture and Society • A society is a group of people living within defined territorial borders who share a culture. • Culture provides the blueprints for guiding people in their relationships within a society.
Culture and Taken-for-Granted Orientations • What is Normal, Natural, or Usual? • Learned • Culture as Lens: through which we perceive and evaluate things • Provides implicit instructions and a moral imperative that defines what we think is right and wrong • Culture Shock • Ethnocentrism
Practicing Cultural Relativism • Consists of trying to appreciate other group’s ways of like in the context in which they exist, w/out judging them as superior or inferior to our own. • Understanding Cultures on Their Own Terms • “Sick Cultures” based on “quality of life - Robert Edgerton
Components of Symbolic Culture Gestures • Conveying Messages without Words • Gestures’ Meaning Differ Among Cultures • Can Lead to Misunderstandings
Components of Symbolic Culture • The creation and transmission of culture depends heavily on the capacity to develop symbols. • Symbols - things that stand for, or represent, something else. Can also include gestures (e.g., a hand wave). • Language – a system of interrelated symbols through which a group of people are able to communicate and pass down information.
Components of Symbolic Culture Language • Allows Human Experience to be Cumulative • Provides Social or Shared Past • Provides Social or Shared Future • Allows Shared Perspective • Allows Complex, Shared, Goal-Directed Behavior
Language and Perception: Sapir-Whorf • Language Has Embedded Within It Ways of Looking at the World • Language shapes our reality. • Our perception of reality is at the mercy of the words and grammatical rules of our language. • Studies demonstrate that language significantly shapes thought.
Questions for Consideration • How does learning a new language shape one’s view of the world? • What is meant by the statement that “people are forever prisoners of their language”? • What are some ways that you can apply the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
Values, Norms, and Sanctions • Values – Standards by which we define good/bad, desirable • Norms - Expectations or rules for behavior • Sanctions - Reaction to following or breaking norms; used to encourage conformity to norms • Positive sanctions • Negative sanctions • Formal sanctions – given only by officially designated persons (an “A” for academic performance; time in jail/prison for committing fraud) • Informal sanctions – can be applied by most members of society (thanking someone for helping you change a tire) • Taboos – Norms so strongly ingrained that eve the thought of them is greeted with revulsion
Cultural Diversity • Because humans are basically the same biologically, cultural diversity must be explained by nongenetic factors. • Cultural diversity within societies is promoted by social categories, subcultures, and countercultures. • Social category – a group of persons who share a social characteristic.
Subcultures • Subculture - A world within the dominant culture; a group that is part of the dominant culture but differs from it in some important respects. • By tradition, Americans like to see themselves as part of a large, single culture. Yet there are many subgroups with cultural uniqueness.
Countercultures • Countercultures - Groups with norms and values at odds with the dominant culture; a subculture that is deliberately and consciously opposed to aspects of the dominant culture. • Openly defies norms, values, and/or beliefs of the dominant culture. • Rebelling against the dominant culture is central to their members. • Examples: militia movement, skinheads, hippies
Values in U.S. Society • Values – broad cultural principles that most people in a society consider desirable. • They do not specify precisely what to think, feel, or behave. Rather, they are ideas about what a group of people believe is good/bad, acceptable/unacceptable • They are important because they have a tremendous influence on social behavior. • Norms are based on a culture’s values. • Handout: 15 US Values…
Cultural Universals • Universal Human Activites? • Although there are many differences between groups throughout the world, sociologists and anthropologists have identified many behaviors that are shared by all cultures. • Some Activities are Universal - Courtship, Marriage, Funerals, Games • All cultures have families, schools, houses of worship, economies, governments, and systems of prestige.
Technology in the Global Village • The New Technology - New Tools • Cultural Lag and Cultural Change • Technology and Cultural Leveling
Questions for Consideration • How might functionalists and conflict theorists have different views of countercultures? • Which view do you prefer and why? • What can be done to minimize our tendencies of ethnocentrism?
Activity: Scavenger Hunt! !!
