Culture and Social Structures Chapter 3 Culture and Social Structures
Activity If the world were shrunk to a village of precisely 100 people. Video
Culture Knowledge, values, customs, and physical objects that are shared by members of a society. Helps guide relationships with others
Society A specific territory inhabited by people who share a common culture Culture and society are tightly interwoven Video
Instincts Unlearned patterns of behavior Shelter, food, survival, behaviors
Heredity Behavior Culture is not the only thing that influences behavior Biological factors: Reflex Drive
Sociobiology The study of the biological basis of human behavior Darwinism and Social Darwinism and modern genetics “Nature vs. Nurture” Think of some Nature vs. Nurture examples in your life…
Activity Youth Culture
Language and Culture Demonstration – Teacher’s edition pg 77 Symbols … How are language and culture related?
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis AKA – Hypothesis of Linguistic Relativity – theory stating that our idea of reality depends largely upon language “While the English language only has a few words to describe snow, the Inuit (Eskimo) language has over twenty.” pg 78
Language and Culture Read page 79 Activity: Media and Language
Values Broad ideas about what is good or desirable shared by people in a society Values are what keep people sane, keep society moving forward for the better. -Video
Norms Rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior Read the second paragraph pg 81 Cultural Etiquette: Page 82
Folkways Norms that lack moral significance Not punished if norm is broken What are some folkways you can think of???
Mores (MOR-ays) Norms that have moral dimensions and that should be followed by members of the society MORAL Folkways = personal choice Mores = social requirement
Taboo A rule of behavior, the violation of which calls for strong punishment Read about some taboos on pg 84 Are there any you can think of???
Law A norm that is formally defined and enforced by officials Pg 86
Sanctions Rewards and punishments used to encourage people to follow norms Iran, China, NK
Formal and Informal Sanctions Formal – designated people, such as judges, teachers (PBS minor) Informal – performed on person by members of the group, society There are positive and negative informal sanctions
Activity 1. Values and Culture 2. Gestures, Norms, and Cultural Change
WWJB What Would Jesus Buy? What do you think about this material culture we live in?
Nonmaterial vs. Material Ideas, knowledge, and beliefs that influence people’s behavior The concrete tangible objects of a culture
Beliefs Ideas about the nature of reality It is not important what is true, but it is important what people think are true. Is there any validity to this statement?
Story Read story on page 93 Ideal culture – cultural guidelines that group members claim to accept - theory Real culture – actual behavior patterns of members of the group - application
Why does culture change? Diffusion – borrowing of aspects of culture from other cultures History, wars, globalization, evolution of society
Social categories Groupings of persons who share a social characteristic What are some social categories you belong to???
Subculture A group that is part of the dominant culture but that differs from it in some important respects Religion***, ethnicity, etc…
Counterculture Not just hippies These subcultures change on purpose to “stick it to the man,” or be different for many different reasons (government, religion, society, etc…) Video
Ethnocentrism Judging others in terms of one’s own cultural standards - Video “My culture (people) are the best and everything and everybody else is wrong and not as good.” Is this good or bad for society? What are some examples throughout history and now?
Cultural particulars General cultural traits that exist in all cultures Pg 102 graphic Can you name any? Sports, courtship, language, housing, religion
Cultural particulars The ways in which a culture expresses universal traits Men vs. women roles