1. Chapter 2
Culture

2. What is Culture? Language, Beliefs, Values, Norms
Behavior Passed from One Generation to the Next
Material vs. Nonmaterial Cultures
Patterns of behavior
Language, gestures, and other forms of interaction
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3. Module 9
Culture and Society
Society: Large number of people who live in same territory, who are relatively independent of people outside that area, and who participate in a common culture
Common culture simplifies day-to-day interactions
Adorno: worldwide culture industry limits people choices

4. Module 9
Cultural Universals
Cultural Universal: certain common practices and beliefs that all societies have developed
Many are adaptations to meet essential human needs
Murdoch compiled list of cultural universals but they are expressed differently from culture to culture

5. Cultural Universals Examples:
Appearance (bodily adornment, hairstyles)
Activities (sports, dancing, games, joking)
Social institutions (family, law, religion)
Practices (cooking, folklore, gift giving)

6. Culture and Taken-for-Granted Orientations
What is Normal, Natural, or Usual?
The Culture Within Us
Culture as Lens
Culture Shock
Ethnocentrism
The many ways in which culture affects our lives fascinate sociologists
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7. Elements of Culture
Though cultures vary greatly, they have common elements
Symbols
Language
Values
Norms

8. Practicing Cultural Relativism
Understanding Cultures on Their Own Terms
“Sick Cultures” - Robert Edgerton
Confronting Contrasting Views of Reality
None of us can be entirely successful at practicing cultural relativism
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9. Components of Symbolic Culture
Gestures
Conveying Messages without Words
Gestures’ Meaning Differ Among Cultures
Can Lead to Misunderstandings
Is it really true that there are no universal gestures?
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10. Symbols Humans sense the surrounding world and give it meaning Symbols
Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture
Human capacity to create and manipulate symbols is almost limitless

11. Gestures with Different Meanings in Other Societies
“Hook ‘em Horns” or
“Your spouse is unfaithful”

12. Gestures with Different Meanings in Other Societies
“He’s crazy” or
“You have a telephone call”

13. Gestures with Different Meanings in Other Societies
“Okay” Or
“I’ll kill you”

14. Components of Symbolic Culture
Language
Allows Cumulative Human Experience
Provides Social or Shared Past
Provides Social or Shared Future
Allows Shared Perspective
Allows Complex, Shared, Goal-Directed Behavior
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15. Language and Perception: Sapir-Whorf
Language Has Embedded Within It Ways of Looking at the World
Sapir-Whorf Reverses Common Sense
Rather than objects and events forcing themselves onto our consciousness, it is our
Language that determines our consciousness, & hence our perception of objects and events
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16. Module 12
Values
Cultural values: Collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper – or bad, undesirable, and improper
Influence people’s behavior
Criteria for evaluating actions of others
Values may change

17. Values in U.S. Society Achievement and Success Individualism Hard Work
Efficiency and Practicality
Science and Technology
Material Comfort
Freedom
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18. Values in U.S. Society Democracy Equality Group Superiority Education
Religiosity
Romantic Love
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19. Emerging Values Leisure Self-fulfillment Physical Fitness Youthfulness
Concern for the Environment
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20. Values and Culture Culture Wars: When Values Clash
Value and Distorting Lenses
“Ideal” vs. “Real” Culture
The values, norms, and goals that a group considers ideal, worth aiming for
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21. Norms Norms are established rules of behavior or standards of conduct.
Prescriptive norms state what behavior is appropriate or acceptable.
Proscriptive norms state what behavior is inappropriate or unacceptable.

22. Folkways
Everyday customs that may be violated without serious consequences within a particular culture.
In the United States, folkways include:
using deodorant
brushing our teeth
wearing appropriate clothing for a specific occasion
These are sometime referred to as soft norms

23. Mores
Strongly held norms with moral and ethical connotations that may not be violated without serious consequences.
Taboos are mores so strong that violation is considered extremely offensive and even unmentionable.
The incest taboo, which prohibits sexual relations between certain kin, is an example of a nearly universal taboo.

24. Laws
Formal, standardized norms that have been enacted by legislatures and are enforced by formal sanctions.
Civil law deals with disputes among persons or groups.
Criminal law deals with public safety and well-being.

25. Situational Norms that change according to the situation
As an example: Normative behavior at a sporting event would not be appropriate within the context of the normal classroom

26. Acceptance of Norms People do not follow norms in all situations
Module 12
Acceptance of Norms
People do not follow norms in all situations
Behavior that appears to violate society’s norms may represent adherence to a particular group’s norms
Norms may be violated because they conflict with other norms
Acceptance of norms is subject to change

27. Module 12
Sanctions
Sanctions: Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning social norm
Positive sanctions: Pay raises, medals, and words of gratitude
Negative sanctions: Fines, threats, imprisonment, and stares of contempt

28. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Module 9
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to others
Conflict theorists: ethnocentric value judgments serve to devalue groups and to deny equal opportunities
Functionalists: ethnocentrism maintains sense of solidarity

29. Module 9
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism: People’s behaviors from the perspective of their own culture
Different social contexts give rise to different norms and values

30. Popular Culture
Activities, products, and services that are assumed to appeal primarily to the middle and working classes.
These include rock concerts, spectator sports, movies, and television.

31. Subcultures and Countercultures
Groups of people in a small corner in life, (occupation) tend to develop specialized
Ways to communicate with one another
Subculture - A World Within the Dominant Culture
Countercultures - Groups With Norms and Values at Odds With the Dominant Culture
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32. The Old Order Amish Subculture
Strong faith in God.
Rejection of worldly concerns.
Rely on horse and buggy for transportation.

33. Amish Subculture

34. Examples of Countercultures
Beatniks of the 1950’s
Flower Children of the 1960’s
Drug Enthusiasts of the 1970’s

35. Beatniks of the 1950’s

36. Flower Children of the 1960’s

37. Sociobiology and Culture
Module 9
Sociobiology and Culture
Sociobiology: Systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior
Founded on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Sociobiologists assert that many cultural traits rooted in genetic makeup

38. Technology in the Global Village
The New Technology - New Tools
The long-accepted idea that it is proper to
Withhold rights on the basis of someone’s sex can no longer be sustained
Cultural Lag and Cultural Change
Technology and Cultural Leveling
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