Culture Chapter 3 ton.com/com mon/mplay/6.8/?p=/colleg e/soc/conley 4/paradoxani /&f=culture- paradox&ft= mp4&cdn=1& cc=1&a=1 Do Mass Media create social norms or merely reflect them?

Have you ever experienced culture shock? What identifies culture? How can it be defined? A vague term…Why?

Discussion Outline I. Defining Culture II. Types of Culture III. Components of Culture

I. Defining Culture Culture can be loosely defined as a set of beliefs, traditions, and practices. – Learned patterns for thinking, feeling, and acting – Transmitted across generations – Adapts and changes overtime – Human minus nature-Non biological What we often see as natural or innate is more often cultural – Example???

Defining Culture Culture = Superior (Man) – (Inferior) Man – Ethnocentrism The belief that one’s own culture is superior to others, and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of our own – How might a conflict theorist view ethnocentrism? A functionalist theorist? » Examples?

II. Types of Culture (1.) Material vs. (2.) Non-material? What are the material and nonmaterial cultures of …? – -America – -Rave Parties

Cultural Lag – Material culture often changes faster than non- material culture Examples? – -Mass production of automatic weapons – -Cell phones streaming television – -Artificial Reproductive Technology –

Studying Types of Culture Cultural Relativism Cultural scripts – Marriage and proposals Subcultures

III. Components of Culture Norms: Social Rules – Social Expectations – “Should”, “ought”, and “must”= Social Control – Sex, Property, and Safety – Are norms subjective or objective features of society? Are there rules for behavior in public restrooms?

Components: Types of norms Folkways-Customs for etiquette Mores-Moral Codes Laws-Formalized norms – Are all laws also mores? – How are these types of norms enforced in society? Informal vs. formal sanctions.

Components Values: broad ideas regarding what is desirable, correct, and good that most members of a society share -How we evaluate and make important choices in the social world and culture in which we live II.e.: What type of economic system is best? What does success mean? What is beautiful? -Beauty is a social and cultural construction -In western cultures (America), what is ideal beauty? What is the perfect body?

Reflection Theory Reflection theory states that culture is a projection of social structures and relationships into the public sphere.