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G671 – Exploring Socialisation, culture and Identity
THE FORMATION OF CULTURE
CONCEPTS:
VALUES, NORMS, STATUS, CULTURE, ROLES.
VALUES
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Values are general principles or beliefs about what is desirable and worthwhile.
They are general behavioural guides because they reflect ideas about how people
performing a particular role or living in a particular culture should behave.
For example -in an educational context, a teacher should teach their students, mark their
work etc, while students should listen attentively, hand in work for marking !!!
Moral values refer to beliefs about what is right and wrong.

These values provide general guidelines for behaviour and relate to ideals of what is
viewed as important.

Some values are seen as universal; for example, most societies place a high value on
human life and good health.
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Other values are relative and can differ between societies

Example 1: British values may include democracy, achievement, wealth and romantic
love, but these are not necessarily shared with other societies. British society can be
defined as ‘individulaist’ (working on ones own to satisfy ones own needs/desires).

Example 2: Chinese values - the Chinese value the importance of the family(very
low divorce rate)-; the hierarchical structure of social life; the cultivation of morality
and self-restraint and the emphasis on hard work and achievement. Chinese culture
and society can be defined as ‘collectivist’ (working together as a whole/group to
meet needs of the community)

Sociologists disagree on who decides a society's key values and in whose interests they
operate. Functionalists argue that a shared agreement exists about our basic values
and that these form the basis of a stable, ordered society. Marxist sociologists, however,
argue that our values have been defined by the rich ruling class.
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G671 – Exploring Socialisation, culture and Identity
THE FORMATION OF CULTURE
CONCEPTS:
VALUES, NORMS, STATUS, CULTURE, ROLES.
NORMS
 Norms are social rules that define the acceptable and expected ways of behaving in
a given social situation.

Norms are much more precise than values - they are essentially values put into
practice.

Norms are specific to social situations (relative to the situtation) .
Norms operate on two levels:

Informal norms are used to guide individual behaviour when playing a
particular role.

Formal norms are usually expressed as laws — the strongest type of norm in
any society.

Example 1- the norm of knocking on a door before entering someone else's room or
house reflects the value of privacy.

Example 2 - laughing and dancing would be a norm associated with being at a
nightclub but not at a funeral.

Example 3: swearing with your friends may be seen as a norm but not with your
Grandmother.

Norms, as Goffman (1959) suggests, are much more open to negotiation than either
roles or values and this makes them more flexible behavioural guides that can adapt
to changes in the social environment.

Breaking norms would generally be seen as deviant behaviour and they are usually
enforced using informal sanctions (permission/approval) such as the disapproval of
others, embarrassment or a 'telling off' from parents. When people break society's
formal norms (laid down as laws), then the sanctions become more formal (fines,
community sentences, custodial sentences).

Customs are norms that have lasted for a long time and have become a part of
society's traditions; for example, decorating a tree at Christmas time or buying presents
for people's birthdays.
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G671 – Exploring Socialisation, culture and Identity
THE FORMATION OF CULTURE
CONCEPTS:
VALUES, NORMS, STATUS, CULTURE, ROLES.
STATUS
The term status is used in two main ways:
 It can refer to the social position of people in society, such as a mother or a worker, or it can
refer to the ranking of individuals.
 This ranking is determined by the prestige or respect attached to someone's position,
given by other members of society.
 Status is therefore about people's social standing in the eyes of others.
Sociologists usually distinguish between two types of status:
Ascribed status - this is given at birth, which cannot be changed. Ascribed statuses are
those given to you by others whether you want them or not),
For example: prince, social class of our parents.
Achieved status is usually gained through an individual's own efforts, skills and talent
Achieved statuses involve doing something to earn a particular position and level of
respect.
For example: Winner of X factor, the worlds fastest marathon runner, Lord Alan Sugar (The
Apprentice) is a good example of achieved status as he was born into a poor family and is
now a multi millionaire.
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G671 – Exploring Socialisation, culture and Identity
THE FORMATION OF CULTURE
CONCEPTS:
VALUES, NORMS, STATUS, CULTURE, ROLES.
ROLES
Roles are patterns of behaviour that are expected of a person or group of people in
different positions in society.
We all play many different roles in our lifetime - being a student, a sister or employee are all
roles that bring with them certain expectations. For example, doctors are expected to act out their
professional role, which is to be impartial, polite, scientific and so on. A teacher who fights, or a
shopkeeper who gives his produce away, is clearly not following the expected behaviour
associated with these roles.
Roles develop and change over a person's lifetime.
Some roles are ascribed. Ascribed roles are those we’re given or forced to play by other
(usually more powerful) people. For example an ascribed role might be the role of a son
or daughter since it is a role ‘chosen for us’ by our parents.
Other roles, such as occupational roles, are achieved. Achieved roles are those we choose or
are allowed to play — but we need to have done something to earn the right to play them. For
example: IT technician, teacher, doctor,actor.Someone might, only be allowed to play the role
of an ‘A-level student’ if they have the required GCSE grades. For example to be an AS Physics
student you need to have attained a B in GCSE Maths and Sciences.
As individuals take on many different roles, this may lead to role conflict, where successful
performance of two or more roles at the same time may cause conflict and stress. For example
you have a lesson at college at 3.25-4.30pm but your workplace has asked you to be in work by
3pm.
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G671 – Exploring Socialisation, culture and Identity
THE FORMATION OF CULTURE
CONCEPTS:
VALUES, NORMS, STATUS, CULTURE, ROLES.
CULTURE
 The term 'culture' can be summarized as the learned and shared way of life of any society (via
socialization – this will be studied later).
 Nieto and Bode (2010) define culture as consisting of ‘the values, traditions, worldview and social
and political relationships created, shared and transformed by a group of people bound together
by a common history, geographic location, language, social class, religion or other shared identity’
 It includes a society's language, beliefs, values and norms, customs, dress, diet and roles
people play , which people use to make sense of their social world.
 Our culture provides us with guidelines and rules that help us to accomplish everyday activities
and relate socially to other people.
 Culture is what forms the connection between the individual and society.
 It tells the individual how to operate effectively within social institutions that make up society such as the family, the education system or the workplace.
 For example, many societies have an institution called the education system and it is a society's
culture, which helps to provide guidelines for individuals to enable them to 'fit into' this institution.
This is achieved through a cultural understanding of school norms and rules, the different roles
that are performed, the customs, dress codes, expectations and so on.
 For example: many societies use religion as the basis for their culture, it informs their
society's language, beliefs, values and norms, customs, dress, diet and the roles people play and
can be found in the practice of Muslims, Hindus and Jews.
 Culture is made up of several different aspects, including values, norms, status and roles.