Characteristics of Culture Chapter 2 Characteristics of Culture

What Will You Learn? Explain culture as a dynamic form of adaptation Distinguish between culture, society, and ethnicity Identify basic characteristics common to all cultures Describe the connection among culture, society, and the individual Understand ethnocentrism

Culture and Adaptation Adaptation is a series of beneficial adjustments to a particular environment. Cultural adaptation is a complex of ideas, technologies, and activities that enables people to survive and even thrive in their environment. Cultural adaptations are specific to certain areas and groups. What is adaptive in one area may not be in another.

The Concept of Culture A society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions which are used to make sense of experience and which generate behavior is what defines culture. Everyone at some point in one’s early life will become enculturated into their culture, it is through this process that one learns how to become a member of their society.

Characteristics Of Culture Culture is learned Culture is shared. Culture is symbolic. Culture is integrated. Culture is dynamic.

Culture Is Learned All culture is learned rather than biologically inherited. Individuals of a culture will learn the socially appropriate way to satisfy biologically determined needs. The ability for learned behavior along with innate (instinctual) behavior is present in most all mammals. Primates have the highest degree of learned behavior patterns.

Culture Is Shared All members of a culture will hold a shared set of values, ideas, perceptions, and standards of behaviors. While culture enables individuals in a society to predict how fellow members are most likely to behave in a given circumstance this does not mean that everyone within a culture will act and think the exact same way. Because culture cannot exist without society - an organized group of people who share a territory, language, and culture. There are no known human societies that do not exhibit culture.

Subcultures Within larger societies there can be cultural variation between subgroups in societies that share an overarching culture and these are known better as subcultures. Distinctive sets of standards and behavior patterns by which a group within a larger society operates, while still sharing common standards with that larger society. The Amish of North America represent a subculture within North American society, specifically an ethnic group.

Amish-Ethnic Group Ethnic groups are people who collectively and publicly identify themselves as a distinct group based on various cultural features such as shared ancestry and common origin, language, customs, and traditional beliefs. The Amish live among but keep their beliefs, values, and traditional lifestyle separate from that of mainstream North Americans. Ethnicity – the expression of ideas held by an ethnic group.

Amish Ideals Value simplicity, hard work, and a high degree of neighborly cooperation. Amish education is to teach their children reading, writing, and arithmetic alongside Amish values. They reject what they regard as worldly knowledge and resist any attempt to place their children in public schools.

Not an Absolute Formula for Predicting Behavior May see a Coke can or other item in Amish buggy, Splinter group was forcibly shaving the beards of other Amish imagesCALWOXSPwww.todayifoundout.com

Pluralism Pluralistic societies or multi-ethnic societies are examples by which two or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state but maintain their cultural differences. As it might appear this can often lead to conflict and misunderstandings between groups.

States and Nations Anthropology makes an important distinction between the state and the nation. States are politically organized territories that are internationally recognized, whereas nations are socially organized bodies of people who share a society - a common origin, language and cultural heritage. Ex: the Kurds constitute a nation but their homeland is divided among several states: Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria.

Culture is Based on Symbols Symbols are signs, emblems, and/or other things that are arbitrary but represent something in a meaningful way. Language is probably the most significant cultural symbol, it is the method by which humans transmit culture from one generation to another.

Critical Thought How many symbols can you think of that are found within our culture? Religious National Language Sub-culture

Culture Is Integrated All aspects of a culture function as an integrated whole. Any changes in the culture can ultimately effect another part of the culture. There are three main categories by which a culture is divided: super, social, and infrastructure.

Superstructure A society’s shared sense of identity and worldview. The collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which a group of people makes sense of the world—its shape, challenges, and opportunities—and their place in it. This includes religion and national ideology.

Social Structure The rule-governed relationships- with all their rights and obligations- that hold members of a society together. This includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics.

Infrastructure The economic foundation of a society, including its subsistence practices, and the tools and other material equipment used to make a living.

Culture is Dynamic Cultures are dynamic systems that respond to motions and actions within and around them. A culture must be flexible enough to allow adjustments in the face of unstable or changing circumstances. All cultures are, by necessity, dynamic, but some are far less so than others. If a culture is too rigid or static and fails to provide its members with the means required for long term survival it is likely to fail. Cultural adaptation- complex of ideas, technologies, and activities that allow members of a group to survive and even thrive in their environment.

Functions of Culture Hold strategies for the production and distribution of goods and services considered necessary for life. Ensure the biological continuity of its members. Provide a social structure for reproduction and mutual support. Pass on knowledge and enculturate new members. Facilitate social interaction and provide ways to avoid or resolve conflicts. Meet the psychological and emotional needs of its members.

Functions of Culture Involve a worldview that helps individuals understand their place in the world and face major changes or challenges. Some cultures allow for people to imagine an afterlife, allows for the means to deal with the grief of losing a loved one and face their own demise with certain expectations.

Culture, Society, and the Individual A society is the union of people whom have their own special needs and interests. To thrive, a balance must be struck between the personal interest of members and the demands of the society as a collective whole. Society offers rewards for adherence to its culturally prescribed standards. These come in the form of social approval. To ensure survival of the group, each person must learn to postpone certain immediate personal satisfactions. Needs of the individual cannot be overlooked entirely or emotional stress and growing resentment may erupt.

Cultures and Change Few peoples today exist in total or near total isolation. With globalization comes an accelerated pace of cultural change. Technology, foreign invasion, new trade goods, population growth, ecological shifts, etc. Violent or forced change from an outside party. Values, ideas, or perceptions change over time.

Cultural Change Climate and politics have conspired to create serious cultural change among migratory herders. In Kenya, recent drought combined with restrictions on grazing have caused cattle to die, forcing herders to move elsewhere and give up their old lifeways entirely.

Ethnocentrism and Culture When the belief that the way of life of one’s own culture is the only proper way of life is held, this is called ethnocentrism. Anthropologists attempt to battle against ethnocentric views by taking a different approach: one must suspend judgment of other peoples’ practices in order to understand them in their own cultural terms, also called cultural relativism.

Critical Thought What characteristics of one’s culture do you think could lead to ethnocentric ideals?

Evaluation of Cultures How well does any culture satisfy the biological, social, and psychological needs of those whose behavior it guides? Cultures can be evaluated according to: Nutritional status Physical and mental health of population Incidence of violence, crime, and delinquency Demographic structure Stability and tranquility of domestic life

Critical Thought Given the aforementioned checklist to evaluate one’s culture, how does the United States stack up? How do recent trending topics in the news support our assumptions? (health, foreign affairs, racial issues, homicide, etc.)