Culture
Today:
Norms
Cultural Relativism
Concrete Culture-Share
artifacts
Language
About Test 1
“When a person is down in the
world, an ounce of help is better
than a pound of preaching.”Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton (Novelist,
Playwright, Politician)
Values: shared beliefs
about what is important
Norms: shared rules of conduct
• Outline what is acceptable,
appropriate
• Guide behavior
• Based on values
Value: respect for elders
Norm: give up your seat on the
bus if there is someone elderly
standing
How do we learn norms?
• positive and negative sanctions
• Sanctions: reactions people get for breaking or following
norms
Positive Sanctions
Negative Sanctions
Approval for following a norm
Disapproval for breaking a norm
Ex: holding an elevator-smile or
thank you
Ex: stand too closely to someonestep back or weird look
3 Types of Norms:
Folkways, Mores (more-ays), Taboo
Folkways
Mores
Taboo
Norms that are
not strictly
enforced
Norms that we
take seriously
and are part of
core values
Norms that are
very strongly
ingrained in us
and almost
unimaginable to
violate
3 Types of Norms:
Folkways, Mores (more-ays), Taboo
Folkways
Mores
Taboo
Norms that are not
strictly enforced
Norms that we take
seriously and are part
of core values
Norms that are very
strongly ingrained in us
and almost
unimaginable to violate
Husband and
wife live in the
same home
Being faithful
to husband/
wife
-Open
marriages
-Multiple
wives/husbands
3 Types of Norms:
Folkways
Mores
Norms that are not Norms that we
strictly enforced
take seriously and
are part of core
values
Mom and Dad
sleep in one
room, children
in another
Parents provide
children with a
safe place to
sleep
Taboo
Norms that are
very strongly
ingrained in us and
almost
unimaginable to
violate
Dad and teenage
daughter
sleeping in the
same bed
3 types of norms
Mark didn’t bring a gift to his friend’s birthday party. Mark violated a
folkway
___________________________
Mark exchanged his daughter’s hand in marriage for money. In the United
States this is _______________________________.
taboo
mos
Mark was hitting his dog badly at the park . Mark has violated a _______
Folkways
Mores
Taboo
Norms that are not
strictly enforced
Norms that we take
seriously and are part of
core values (often reflect
laws)
Norms that are very
strongly ingrained in us
and almost unimaginable
to violate (often reflect
laws)
Exchanging your
daughter’s hand in
marriage for monetary
compensation
Bringing a gift to a
birthday party
Caring for your
pets
1.
•
•
•
Assignment 3. Share your cultural artifact. Tell us:
your name
what you brought
what meaning it has for you
2. As people are sharing, record which category of culture you
think each item falls under:
• Race/ethnicity/nationality
• Language
• Gender
• Socio-economic status
• Age
• Family
Sports
• Religion
• Political ideology
• Interests/hobbies
• Experiences
• Other:_____
•
Subcultures
• Culture within larger culture
• Have own values, customs etc,
• Shares many values of the larger
culture
Ex: Youth culture, DJ’s, surfers, doctors
Counter cultures
Holds values that stand in opposition to
those of the dominant culture
Ex: Swingers, gangs, mafia
Culture of
society as a
whole
subculture
Counter culture
Freeganism and dumpster diving
View Info
More details
Quick Write:
1. Do you think Freeganism is a subculture or
counter culture?
2. Why?
3. What are their values?
4. What types of norms might they follow?
Subculture:
• Culture within larger culture
• Has some own values, customs etc,
• Shares many values of the parent culture
Counter culture:
• Holds values that stand in opposition to those of the dominant culture
Cultural relativism
Examining cultures without judging its elements as superior or
inferior to ones own way of life
Study habits
Favorite team
Political beliefs
Religious beliefs
Child rearing
+ Positive
Is cultural relativism a good thing?
Can it be a bad thing?
-Negative
Language Defined:
Set of symbols that
• expresses ideas
• allows people to think
and communicate
Language
The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (2012) lists the following as the
top languages by population:
(number of native speakers in parentheses)
Mandarin Chinese (937,132,000)
Spanish (332,000,000)
English (322,000,000)
Bengali (189,000,000)
Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)
Arabic (174,950,000)
Portuguese (170,000,000)
Russian (170,000,000)
Japanese (125,000,000)
German (98,000,000)
French(79,572,000)
Language
Guides perceptions
There are words that exist in certain
languages that do not have a an
equivalent in others
Examples:
•girlfriend/boyfriend doesn’t exist in
Urdu
•Kuya/Ate (older brother/sister in
Tagalog)
•Ta’arof- Farsi term referring to etiquette,
politeness, cultural obligations doesn’t
exist in English
Culture and Language
are interdependent because
• Humans learn and transmit our culture through
language
Culture and Language
What we say influences
what we think
what we feel and
what we believe
What think, feel, and
believe
influences
what we say
Language Moribund
(endangered language)
• Moribund = spoken only by a few older people
and unknown to children
• Many world languages will be extinct or moribund within
the next 100 years
• An entire way of thinking is lost each time a language
becomes extinct
Endangered Languages
• View National Geographic Map of endangered
languages
• View Enduring Voices Project
How to study for Test 1
1) Use the study guide on the website!
2) Fill out answers
3) Master the information
4) Test yourself
5) Study with a classmate
The test is 20 questions, 17 from the lecture and 3 based on the reading (with some
overlap). Review your notes, the Power Point slides posted on the course website, and
reading assignments.
To do
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Read
Test 1 Coming Up
Be on time-class continues after the test
Bring a standard 50 question scantron E-882 and pencil
Multiple choice, 15 questions
Study class notes, ppt slides on website, and text reading
Study guide posted on website
Partner Activity-Language and Culture. Write down responses.
What do you think these proverbs might tell us about
what the culture values?
1. “Lower your voice and strengthen your argument.” (Lebanese
proverb)
2. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” (American proverb)
3. “E moa i tangata ringa raupa.” “Marry a man with blistered
hands.” (Maori Proverb, New Zealand)
4. “Anda tu camino sin ayuda de vecino.” “Walk your own road
without the help of a neighbor.” (Mexican proverb)
5. "When the brothers fight to the death, a stranger inherits their
father's estate.” (Nigerian proverb)
What do these proverbs tell you about what the
culture values?
Lebanese Proverb
“Lower your voice and strengthen your argument”
American Proverb
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”
Maori Proverb (New Zealand)
“E moa i tangata
ringa raupa.”
“Marry a man with
blistered hands.”
Mexican Proverb
“Anda tu camino sin
ayuda de vecino.”
“Walk your own road
without the help of a
neighbor.”
Chinese Proverb
“Don’t add legs to the snake after you have finished
drawing it”
Nigerian Proverb
"When the brothers fight to the death, a stranger
inherits their father's estate.”
What is socialization?
Socialization – the process by which we learn the
ways of our society.
In other words…
how we become who we are
ongoing lifelong process
How others influence us:
1. Charles Horton Cooley-Looking Glass Self
2. Erving Goffman-Dramaturgy
3. George Herbert Mead-Development of
self-concept
Charles Horton Cooley
Looking Glass Self
1) We use others as mirrors
2) Look at their eyes, body language, and listen to them to assess
ourselves
3) We develop a self- concept. Determine if our actions are having
the desired effect.
Erving Goffmam Dramaturgy
• Noticed a conflict between what we want to do and what
we feel people want us to do
• View of social life as a series of dramatic performances
(theatre)
Erving Goffmam Dramaturgy
Impression management= actions and statements made to
control how others view us
Erving Goffman Dramaturgy
Front stage: actor’s performance in front of an audience
A model walking in a run way show
A doctor performing surgery
Someone out on a date
Erving Goffman Dramaturgy
Back stage: concealing some of
the things that go into the
“performance”
Teacher preparing lessons, or
speaking freely with co-workers
about students
ERVING GOFFMAN’S DRAMATURGY
• Role conflict: conflict between 2
different roles you preform
-student and mom
• Role strain: conflict within one role
-student taking many classes
Be a sociologist
•Sociologists study human behavior
•Use your observations of student and teacher behaviors in college
•Determine behaviors that help and hurt the classroom
environment and student learning
Underline the top 3 in every category
Erving Goffman
Dramaturgy
• Noticed a conflict between what we
want to do and what we feel people
want us to do
• Social life is a series of dramatic
performances = theatre
• Impression management= the
techniques an “actor” uses to
maintain certain impressions
Erving Goffman
Dramaturgy
Front stage: is the part of the actors performance that functions
in a generally fixed manner in front of an audience
A teacher conducting his lesson in front of a class
A model walking in a run way show
A doctor performing surgery
Someone out on a date
Erving Goffman
Dramaturgy
Back stage: where facts
suppressed in front stage or
various kind of informal actions
may appear.
teacher prepares his lessons, or
speaks freely with co-workers
about students
concealing some of the
things that go into the
performance
Erving Goffman
Dramaturgy
•Role conflict: conflict between 2
different roles you preform
-girlfriend and friend
•Role strain: conflict within one role
-making the right choice as a friend
Summary
• View How Beliefs and Values Define a Culture
3 types of norms
Mark didn’t bring a gift to his friend’s birthday party. Mark violated a
folkway
___________________________
Mark exchanged his daughter’s hand in marriage for money. In the United
States this is _______________________________.
taboo
mos
Mark was hitting his dog badly at the park . Mark has violated a _______
Folkways
Mores
Taboo
Norms that are not
strictly enforced
Norms that we take
seriously and are part of
core values (often reflect
laws)
Norms that are very
strongly ingrained in us
and almost unimaginable
to violate (often reflect
laws)
Exchanging your
daughter’s hand in
marriage for monetary
compensation
Bringing a gift to a
birthday party
Caring for your
pets