1. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 The Sociological Perspective ORGANIZING SOCIAL LIFE part McGraw-Hill 2 © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. chapter McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. CHAPTER OUTLINE Culture and Society Development of Culture Around the World Elements of Culture Culture and the Dominant Ideology Cultural Variation Social Policy and Culture: Bilingualism 3 CULTURE

3. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 Culture and Society █Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. █Culture includes the ideas, values, customs, and artifacts of groups of people. █Sociologically, culture does not refer to fine arts or intellectual taste.

4. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Development of Culture Around the World Continued... █Cultural Universals –All societies have developed certain common practices and beliefs. –Cultural universals change over time and from one society to another.

5. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Development of Culture Around the World █Cultural Universals, some examples… –Murdoch (1945) Athletic Sports Cooking Funeral Ceremonies Medicine Sexual Restrictions among others...

6. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 Development of Culture Around the World Source:Student Atlas of World Politics, 5 th Ed., John L. Allen, ©2002, McGraw-Hill/Dushkin █ Linguistic Diversity

7. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 Development of Culture Around the World █Innovation –The process of introducing a new idea or object to culture. –Innovation may take the form of either discovery or invention.

8. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Development of Culture Around the World █Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology –Globalization consists of cultural expressions and practices that cross national borders and have an effect on the traditions and customs of the societies exposed to them. –Globalization is rapidly escalating throughout the world today.

9. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 Development of Culture Around the World █Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology –Diffusion is the process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society. –Diffusion can occur through a variety of means, including: exploration mass media influence military conquest tourism missionary work the Internet

10. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 Development of Culture Around the World █Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology –Technology can be defined as using the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires (Nolan and Lenski 1999). –Technology accelerates the diffusion of scientific innovations. –Technology transmits culture.

11. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Development of Culture Around the World █Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology –Material culture refers to the physical or technological aspects of our daily lives, including: food houses factories raw materials

12. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Development of Culture Around the World █Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology –Nonmaterial Culture refers to ways of using material objects as well as to: customs beliefs government patterns of communication philosophies

13. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 Development of Culture Around the World █Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology –Culture Lag refers to a period of maladjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions.

14. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Development of Culture Around the World █Sociobiology is the systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior. –It was founded on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution █Sociobiologists assert that many cultural traits are rooted in our genetic makeup

15. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 Elements of Culture █Language –Language is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture. –It includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and gestures and expressions of nonverbal communication.

16. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 Elements of Culture █Language –Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Language precedes thought. Language is not a given. Language is culturally determined.

17. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 Elements of Culture █ Figure 3.1: Languages of the World Source:Student Atlas of World Politics, 5 th Ed., John L. Allen, ©2002, McGraw-Hill/Dushkin

18. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Elements of Culture █Language –Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication is the use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate. Nonverbal communication is not the same in all cultures. Nonverbal communication is learned.

19. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 Elements of Culture █Norms –Norms are established standards of behavior maintained by a society. –Types of Norms Formal norms Informal norms Mores Folkways –Acceptance of Norms

20. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 Elements of Culture █Sanctions –Sanctions are penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm. –Sanctions may be either positive or negative.

21. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 Elements of Culture █ Table 3.1: Norms and Sanctions FormalSalary bonusDemotion Testimonial dinnerFiring from a job MedalJail sentence DiplomaExpulsion InformalSmileFrown ComplimentHumiliation CheersBelittling NormsSanctions PositiveNegative

22. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 22 Elements of Culture █Values –Values are our collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper–or bad, undesirable, and improper–in a culture. Values influence people’s behavior. Values are criteria for evaluating actions of others.

23. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 23 Culture and the Dominant Ideology █Dominant Ideology –Dominant Ideology describes the set of cultural beliefs and practices that help to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests. –Dominant groups control wealth and property. –Dominant groups control the means of producing beliefs about reality through: religion education the media

24. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 24 Culture and the Dominant Ideology █ Figure 3.2: Life Goals of First-Year College Students in the United States, 1966-2002 Source: UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, as reported in Astin et al. 1994; Sax et al. 2002:33.

25. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 25 Cultural Variation █Aspects of Cultural Variation –A subculture is a segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the larger society. –A subculture is a culture existing within a larger, dominant culture.

26. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 26 Cultural Variation █Aspects of Cultural Variation –A counterculture is created when a subculture conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture. –Examples of countercultures: hippies militia groups

27. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 27 Cultural Variation █Aspects of Cultural Variation –Culture shock is experienced if one feels disoriented, uncertain, out of place, or fearful when immersed in an unfamiliar culture. –Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life are superior to all others.

28. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 28 Cultural Variation You know you are a Phishhead –When someone asks you what type of music you listen to, you say Phish –While pledging a fraternity during hell week, your only rule as punishment is not to talk about Phish the whole time –You have 35 emails from friends after Phish is on the Simpsons. –You stare at Ebay for a good while contemplating the $700 seats to Worcester (concert). –It doesn’t matter how late, or early you are phor something... you’re sittin in that car till the song’s over. –You are the only phan at school, but it doesn’t matter because it makes your passion that much more intense –Your parents stop asking you if you are getting a job this summer and instead ask which tour you will be on –Because you listen to them only █ Table 3.2: Are You a Phishhead? Source: Selected by the author from Pholktales 2003.

29. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 29 Cultural Variation █Attitudes Toward Cultural Variation –Ethnocentrism refers to the assumption that one’s own culture represents the norm or is superior to all others. –Cultural relativism views people’s behaviors from the perspective of their own culture. –Xenocentrism is an extension of cultural relativism; it is the belief that the products, styles, or ideas of one’s society are inferior to those that originate elsewhere.

30. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 30 Social Policy and Socialization █Bilingualism –The Issue: Bilingualism refers to the use of two or more languages in a particular setting, such as the workplace or schoolroom. Thus, a program of bilingual education may instruct children in their native language while gradually introducing them to the language of the host society.

31. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 31 Social Policy and Socialization █Bilingualism –The Setting: Languages know no political boundaries. Minority languages are common in many nations. Schools throughout the world must deal with incoming students speaking many languages. –Do bilingual programs in the United States help these children to learn English? –It is difficult to reach firm conclusions because bilingual program in general vary so widely in their approach.

32. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 32 Social Policy and Socialization █Bilingualism –Sociological Insights: For a long time, people in the United States demanded conformity to a single language. This demand coincides with the functionalist view that language serves to unify members of a society. –Recent decades have seen challenges to this pattern of forced obedience to our dominant ideology. –The perspective of conflict theory also helps us understand some of the attacks on bilingual programs.

33. McGraw-Hill © 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 33 Social Policy and Socialization █Bilingualism –Policy Initiatives: Bilingualism has policy implications largely in two areas–efforts to maintain language purity and programs to enhance bilingual education. –Nations vary dramatically in their tolerance for a variety of languages. –In many nations, language dominance is a regional issue. –Policymakers in the United States have been somewhat ambivalent in dealing with the issue of bilingualism.