Sociology 1 . Professor Vu . Winter Jan 9, 2012 . Lecture . Chp 2 .
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I. What is culture
a. The language, beliefs, values, norms, behavior, and even material
objects that characterize a particular group and are passed from one
generation to the next.
b. Material vs. Nonmaterial Cultures
i. Material: art, hairstyle, buildings, weapons, etc.
ii. Nonmaterial also called Symbolic Culture: a group’s way of
thinking, their values, their perceptions and common patterns
of behavior (language, gestures, etc.)
II. Culture and Taken-for-Granted Orientations
a. Teaching us what is “normal,” “natural,” or “unusual.”
b. The culture within us is what sociologists say is our taking for granted
our cultural basis and the lens with which it gives us to perceive the
world. Like Ralph Linton once said, “The last thing a fish would ever
notice would be water.” Only in contact with different cultures do
we generally confront our own worldview through a process of
disorientation known as culture shock, otherwise our culture remains
largely beyond our perception.
c. Culture is a lens with how we perceive and evaluate.
d. Ethnocentrism: is when you use your own culture as a measuring rod
for evaluating other cultures.
i. It is Function in that it creates in-group solidarity, but is
dysfunctional because it leads to discrimination.
ii. William Sumner said “One’s own group is the center of
everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference
to it.”
e. “There is nothing ‘natural’ about nonmaterial or material culture.”
f. “Culture provides implicit instructions that tell us what we ought to
do and how we ought to think.”
g. “Culture also provides a ‘moral imperative’; that is, the culture that we
internalize becomes the ‘right’ way of doing things.”
III. Cultural Diversity in the United States
a. Arrival of the Hmong
Sociology 1 . Professor Vu . Winter Jan 9, 2012 . Lecture . Chp 2 .
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i. The Hmong were a group of island villagers who worked
alongside the US in the Vietnam War. After the war they were
brought to the US so the government of Vietnam would not kill
them. They had a very difficult time adjusting to American
culture and the US Gov thought dispersing them throughout
the US would aid this process, this however, was the exact
opposite. The Hmong now live in a central located position in
the Central Valley in California, where their regathering has
aided them in assimilating to the American culture.
IV. Practicing Cultural Relativism
a. Is the process by which we view another culture, examining the way
their culture fits together but reserve any judgment against the
cultures practices, values, material, etc., as superior or inferior to our
own way of life. This can become increasingly complicated with things
that our own culture strongly rejects but our goal must be to perceive
these events or materials through the cultures perspective and “its
history, its folklore, its ideas, its ideas of bravery and its ideas of sex
roles.
b. Robert Edgerton developed a scale that would measure societies on
the quality of life that they produce. His idea of Cultural Relativism
stated that all cultures are not equal, as cultures that degrade or
exploit human life should not be viewed as equal to those that
enhance human life. His view however is still subjective because it
establishes a scale on his own culture.
V. Components of Symbolic Culture or Nonmaterial Culture
a. Gestures are the ways in which people use their bodies to
communicate in a series of symbols to other people without words.
Gestures are not universal and if you are to be successful in a
particular culture it is important that you learn the dominant cultures
gestures or risk appearing fooling, offensive or simply
misunderstanding communication. Sociologists do debate that there
are particular gestures such as expressions of anger, pouting, fear and
sadness that are actually built into our biological makeup.
b. Language is the primary symbolic form of communication between
humans; it is not universal and is what allows culture to exist. Without
Sociology 1 . Professor Vu . Winter Jan 9, 2012 . Lecture . Chp 2 .
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language humans would not be able to discuss any complex idea,
abstract thought or speak of anything other than the immediate past,
present and future, as language allows human experience to be
cumulative.
i. A common language is the basis of culture because it allows for
a mutually understandable world in which we can talk of
specific events in the past, present and future. The ability to
project into the past gives us a shared understanding of the
past, while projecting into the future allows us to plan
particular events and set purposes for life.
ii. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: A theory developed by Edward Sapir
and Benjamin Whorf that states that it is not simply external
events and ideas that shape our perceptions of the world but
within the process of language acquisition we are acquiring
specific perceptions of looking at the world.
1. An example of such a word would be the term feminine
which produces notions of females being “delicate” as
the normal expectation.
VI. Values, Norms, and Sanctions
a. Values- Standards by which people judge what is good and bad,
beautiful and ugly.
b. Norms- Expectations or rules for behavior that develop out of a
groups values.
c. Sanctions – reactions people receive for following of breaking norms.
i. Positive sanctions- are expressions of approval or reward.
ii. Negative sanctions- are expressions of disapproval for
breaking a rule, anywhere from a fine to a frown.
d. Moral Holidays and Places
i. Specified times and locations where people are allowed to
relax and break norms without fear of suffering negative
sanctions.
1. Mardi Gras allows for woman to flash their breasts for
beads in the presence and passive approval of cops.
e. Folkways and Mores
Sociology 1 . Professor Vu . Winter Jan 9, 2012 . Lecture . Chp 2 .
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i. Folkways – Norms that are not strictly enforced and do not
carry heavy negative sanctions.
ii. Mores – Core values where we demand conformity.
iii. Depending on who is committing the action, the action may be
classified under either a folkway or more. For example a
woman walking without her top would be arrested for
breaking a more, whereas a man doing the same would be seen
to be breaking a folkway.
iv. Taboos – Norms that are so strongly held that even the thought
of breaking them creates feelings of revulsion.
f. Subcultures and Countercultures
i. Subcultures – A world within the dominant culture that
remains compatible with the dominant culture but creates its
own specialized mode of communication and worldviews.
ii. Countercultures – Groups with norms and values at odds with
the dominate culture and are viewed as a threat. For example,
Mormon polygamy was outlawed by the dominate culture in
the US that believed in monogamy.
g. Values in U.S. Society
i. Robin Williams 10 Goals of American Society
1. Achievement and Success
2. Individualism
3. Hard Work
4. Efficiency and Practicality
5. Science and Technology
6. Material Comfort
7. Freedom
8. Democracy
9. Equality
10. Group Superiority
ii. James Henslin’s three additional values of Americans:
Education, Religiosity, Romantic Love
iii. Value Clusters: Values (such as Williams’s list) generally group
together around larger goals.
Sociology 1 . Professor Vu . Winter Jan 9, 2012 . Lecture . Chp 2 .
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iv. Value Contradictions: When one value contradicts the mission
of another. For example Group Solidarity amongst Whites was
a contradiction to Freedom for all people. Areas of value
contradictions are generally where social change is formed.
v. Emerging Values: Are values that emerge as a response to the
conditions of society.
1. Leisure
2. Self-fulfillment
3. Physical Fitness
4. Youthfulness
5. Concern for the Environment
vi. Values and Culture
1. Culture wars are a product of the clash of dominate
values with foreign or emerging ones.
2. Value can act as Distorting Lenses by having an ideal
view obscure a reality. For example American ideas of
individuality would have many believe that the level of
poverty of a single mother is the direct result of her
choice rather than as a series of obstacles that she was
never able to overcome.
3. “Ideal” vs. “Real” Culture
a. The difference between what we project as our
values in comparison to what we actually do.
vii. Cultural Universals
1. George Murdock concluded that some activities are
universal in culture such as, courtship, marriage,
funerals, games, etc.
2. Murdock further viewed that those specific activities
differ between groups.
VII. Sociobiology
a. Is a controversial view of human behavior that was developed by
Edward Wilson and stated that like physical characteristics that are a
result of natural selection and genetics, so too is human behavior.
b. Charles Darwin and Natural Selection
Sociology 1 . Professor Vu . Winter Jan 9, 2012 . Lecture . Chp 2 .
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c. Sociologists and Social Biologists on Opposite Sides because
sociologists believe that humans are aware and can reflect on the
consequences and benefits from abstract thinking and are products of
their social interactions, where social biologists attribute human
behavior to biology.
VIII. Technology in the Global Village
a. The New Technology – in the simplest sense they are new tools and in
a broader sense they are the understanding and skills of how to
operate and make those tools. This is particularly significant because
it sets the framework of relations amongst people through
nonmaterial culture.
b. Cultural Lag and Cultural Change – William Ogburn developed the
theory of cultural lag where material culture can change relatively
quickly while the nonmaterial culture will be forced to lag behind.
c. Technology and Cultural Leveling – Technology has allowed for
Cultural Diffusion where the spread of one cultures material and/or
nonmaterial culture can cross over into another culture. Cultural
diffusion is a process that is happening with increasing frequency
with the ease and frequency of contact because of our globalized
society. In addition, a process known as cultural leveling is also taking
place, which is when one culture becomes similar to another culture.