Culture, Socialization and Social interaction

What is culture? Culture is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a group of people. Culture is the behavior that results when a group arrives at a set of - generally unspoken and unwritten - rules for working together.

Norms and Values All societies have ways to encourage and enforce appropriate behavior, and discourage and punish inappropriate behavior Collective idea of what is good and desirable, and what is not

Values Cultural values: collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper—or bad, undesirable, and improper Example – Independence. Americans strongly believe in the concept of individualism. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Norms Norms: established standards of behavior maintained by a society To be significant, must be widely shared and understood Example – how to behave in a movie theater (norm of silence) But, its ok to be noisy in a funny movie.

Norms Types of Norms Formal norms: generally written; specify strict punishments Law: governmental social control Parking at HCC Informal norms: generally understood but not precisely recorded How to dress? What is appropriate dress code?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Mores: norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society Example – respect for human life Folkways: norms governing everyday behavior Example – walking up – on a down escalator

Norms Norms and Sanctions Sanctions: penalties and rewards for conduct concerning social norm Positive sanctions: pay raises, medals, words of gratitude Negative sanctions: fines, threats, imprisonment, and stares of contempt

How powerful are norms? Breaching experiments by Harold Garfinkel

Elements of Culture Important component of cultural capital The term cultural capital refers to non-financial social assets that promote social mobility beyond economic means. Examples can include education, intellect, style of speech, dress, or physical appearance

Role of Language: One of the major elements of culture Facilitates day-to-day exchanges Includes both the written and spoken word and nonverbal communication

Language: Written and Spoken Language: abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture Examples – English – “my” teacher Korean language – “our” teacher Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Language precedes thought Language is not a given Language is culturally determined Language may color how we see the world

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf (1930) In the 1930s, two anthropologists, became intrigued when they noticed that the Hopi Indians of the southwestern United States had no words to distinguish among the past, the present, and the future. English, in contrast as well as French, Spanish, Swahili, and other languages distinguishes carefully among these three time frames. Language not only expresses our thoughts and perceptions but also shapes the way we think and perceive. When we learn a language, we learn not only words but also ways of thinking and perceiving

How language shapes social reality Cancer or Loo Doo na’dziihii -a sore that does not go away Menopause

Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication: use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate Learned Differs by culture Symbols: gestures, objects, and words that form basis of human communication

Nonverbal Communication and Culture

Cultural Variation Cultures adapt to meet specific circumstances level of technology, population, geography Groups within a single nation develop cultural patterns that differ from those of the dominant society

Subcultures Subculture: segment of society that shares distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from larger society A subculture may develop an argot, a specialized language that distinguishes a subculture from the wider society

Sub culture & counter-culture

Countercultures Counterculture: subculture that conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture Typically thrive among the young Counterterrorism experts concerned about growth of ultraconservative militia groups

Culture Shock Occurs when someone feels disoriented, uncertain, out of place, or fearful when immersed in an unfamiliar culture People tend to take for granted cultural practices of their society

Theoretical perspectives Functionalism Conflict theorist Symbolic interactionist

Sociological Perspectives on Culture Functionalists maintain that social stability requires a consensus and the support of society’s members; strong central values and common norms provide that support Conflict theorists argue that common culture serves to maintain the privileges of certain groups

Sociological Perspectives on Culture Dominant ideology: set of cultural beliefs and practices that help maintain powerful interests Social interests Economic interests Political interests

Conflict perspective: dominant ideology has major social significance – core values of material sucess

Cultural change Innovations Discoveries Inventions Diffusion and globalization

Class Discussion Research about a country you know very little about and find out about something very different (than your culture) about that country’s culture. I what way is it different from your culture?