Society, Culture
& Cultural Change
Introduction to Social Science
Today
• Culture
• Causes of cultural change
• Cultural change & social problems
Culture
• Set of learned behaviours and ideas that are
shared by particular society or other social
group
– Defining features: Learned, Shared
• Includes beliefs, values, ideals, attitudes,
customs, etc.
Subculture
• Group within a society with commonly shared
customs
Society
• group of people who occupy a particular
territory and speak a common language
Cultural universals
• Cultural element, trait or pattern that is
common to ALL cultures
Cultural alternates
• Cultural characteristics not shared by all
cultures
Cultural integration
• The degree to which a culture is internally
consistent and homogenous
Some Elements of Culture
Social Norms
Social Institutions
Material Culture
Language
Social Values
Social Norms
• Norms: standards or rules about acceptable
behaviour
– Conventions: simple, every day customs
– Mores: conventions that would have serious
consequences if violated
– Laws: principles and regulations established in a
community by some authority, applicable to the
people either in form of legislation or policies
recognized and enforced by judicial decision
Social Institutions
• Normative systems of behavior for five basic
areas of life:
– Family
– Government
– Economics
– Education
– Religion
Social Institutions
Material Culture
• Material products of customary behaviour
• Culture includes knowledge of how to produce
and/or use a variety material products
Material Culture
Language
• Complex system of symbols used for
communication
Social Values
• Culturally defined standards of desirability,
goodness, beauty, etc.
Some causes of social change
Discovery and Invention
Diffusion
Acculturation
Discovery and Invention
• An innovation – either an object (e.g. the
wheel) or an idea (e.g. democracy) - gains
widespread acceptance
• Discovery: Addition to knowledge
• Invention: Practical application of knowledge
Discovery and Invention
Diffusion
• Spread of cultural traits from one group to
another
– Direct Contact
– Intermediate Contact
– Stimulus Diffusion
Diffusion
Acculturation
• Adaptation of cultural traits due to contact
with a dominant , more powerful society
Acculturation
Revolution
• Replacement, usually violent, of a country’s
rulers through rebellion against the
established authorities
Revolution
1971
2004
Social Problems
• Social problem: situation or condition
recognized as adversely affecting the welfare
of a large number of people
Cultural Lag
• William Ogburn (sociologist)
• Cultural lag: slowness in the rate of change in one part of
culture in relation to another (due to material
invention/technological change)
• The change in one part of the cultural pattern may create
strain and disturbances in closely related parts
• Although adjustments will be made to restore harmony,
there will be lag time during which tension persists
Cultural Lag
Ethnocentrism
• Belief that one’s culture’s own behaviours and attitudes
are the correct ones and that people who do not share
them are immoral or inferior
• Judgement of other cultures by the standards of one’s
own culture
• Has both positive and negative consequences
– Positive side: it creates social solidarity within the group
– Negative: can lead to harmful discrimination against
people whose ways differ from ours
Cultural Relativism
• Belief that a society’s customs and beliefs
should be described objectively and
understood in the context of that society’s
problems and opportunities
Cultural Relativism & Human Rights
• Idea of universal human rights challenges
cultural relativism
• Is there a moral/ethical code that is superior
to any country, culture, or religion?
• Cultural relativism does not preclude an
anthropologists or other social scientists from
respecting human rights
Summary
• Culture is a set of learned behaviours and ideas that
are shared by particular society or other social group
• Elements of culture include social norms, social
institutions, language, social values, material culture
• Cultural change can be brought about by diffusion,
acculturation, invention and discovery
• Sometimes change addresses social problems, other
times it causes it (cultural lag)
Dancing with a Ghost:
Exploring Indian Reality
By Rupert Ross
“We are not
seeing, despite
what we seem to
be seeing….”
Dancing with a Ghost:
Exploring Indian Reality
By Rupert Ross
• Rupert Ross - Canadian lawyer who works with
the Cree and Ojibway people in Canadian court
system
• “Rather than assume their behavior stems from
principles similar to our own and judging it poorly
for not conforming, we must realize its different
because it stems from different principles.”
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down:
A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors,
and the Collision of Two Cultures
By Anne Fadiman
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down:
A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors,
and the Collision of Two Cultures
By Anne Fadiman
• Clash between Hmong refugee family from Laos
and American doctors at small California hospital
• Six year old Lia’s diagnosis:
– Family and Tvix neeb: Quag dab peg “The Spirit
catches you and you fall down”
– American Doctors: Epilepsy