Culture
Sociology
Culture
 Knowledge, language, values, customs, and material objects that
are passed from person to person and from one generation to the
next in a human group or society
 Society is composed of people
 Culture is composed of ideas, behaviors, and material possessions
 Society and Culture are interdependent
 How?
 How people view culture is related to their location in society …its’
all relative…
 Ex. Intolerance –condoned by US culture but also downside of
“positive” cultural values. How?
Importance of Culture
 Essential for our individual survival and for our communication
with other people
 Culture teaches us what we need to know…
 We learn through interaction, observation and imitation
 Humans:
 do NOT have instincts (unlearned, biologically determined
behavior)
 we DO have reflexes: unlearned, biologically determined involuntary
responses (sneeze, blink) and drives: unlearned, biologically
determined impulses ( sleep, eat, sex)
 Since no instincts, we rely on CULTURE as our “tool
box” for survival
Cultural Tool Box
 Material Culture
 Physical or tangible creations that members of society make, use
and share
 Ex. Raw materials, technology
 Non-material Culture
 Consists of the abstract or intangible human creations of society
that influences people’s behavior
 Ex. Language, beliefs, values, rules of behavior
 Beliefs are central component- what is real/true
Cultural Universals
 Customs and practices that occur across all societies
 Ex. Appearance ( hairstyles)
 Activities (sports, dances, games)
 Social institutions ( family, law, religion)
 Customary practices (cooking, hospitality)
 Read Body Rituals of the Naricema
 Answer questions
 Think about cultural universals
Components of Culture
Symbols, Language, Values, and Norms
Symbols
 Anything that meaningfully represents something else
 Symbols affect our thoughts about:
 Class- i.e., dress, car
 Race- i.e., white person (pinkish) vs. black person (brownish)
What immediately comes to mind when you see
this picture…?
Confederate Flag
 Does it symbolize history or racism?
 Does it symbolize state pride or prejudice?
 Should this symbol be allowed to be displayed as a state flag?
Language
 Set of symbols that expresses ideas and enables people to
think and communicate with one another
 Important means of cultural transmission
 Does language create or simply communicate reality?
 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: language shares the view of
reality of its speakers
 Language creates our reality
 Are we trapped by our language?
 Many sociologists believe language influences behaviors but
does not determine them
Language and Gender
 Is there a relationship b/w language and gender?
 English language in general
 Certain words have positive connotation for men but not for
women
 Words that promote women as sexual objects
 Words that promote performance pressures for men defining
sexual prowess
Language and Gender Quiz
Male Term
Female Term
Teacher
Teacher
Chairman
Chairwoman
Congressman
Congresswoman
Policeman
Policewoman
Fireman
Firewoman
Airline steward
Airline stewardess
Race car driver
Woman race car driver
Wrestler
Lady/woman wrestler
Professor
Female/woman professor
Doctor
Lady doctor
Bachelor
Spinster/old maid
Male prostitute
Prostitute
Welfare recipient
Welfare mother
Worker/employee
Working mother
Janitor/maintenance man
Maid/cleaning lady
Neutral Term
Language and Gender Quiz
Male Term
Female Term
Neutral Term
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
Chairman
Chairwoman
Chair, chairperson
Congressman
Congresswoman
Representative
Policeman
Policewoman
Police officer
Fireman
Firewoman
Firefighter
Airline steward
Airline stewardess
Flight attendant
Race car driver
Woman race car driver
Race car driver
Wrestler
Lady/woman wrestler
Wrestler
Professor
Female/woman professor
Professor
Doctor
Lady doctor
Doctor
Bachelor
Spinster/old maid
Single person
Male prostitute
Prostitute
Prostitute
Welfare recipient
Welfare mother
Welfare recipient
Worker/employee
Working mother
Worker/employee
Janitor/maintenance man
Maid/cleaning lady
Custodial attendant
Language, Race, Ethnicity
 Create and reinforce our perceptions about race and
ethnicity by transmitting preconceived ideas about
superiority of one group over another
 Overtly derogatory terms popularized in music and movies in
conjunction with threats against persons
 Ex. Honkey, spic, chink, etc.
 Words used to create or reinforce perceptions about a group
 Native Americans = “savages”
 African Americans = “uncivilized”
 The “voice” of verbs may minimize or incorrectly identify the
activities or achievements of people of color
 African Americans were GIVEN the right to vote
 African Americans FOUGHT for the right to vote
Language and Perspectives
 How might language be viewed from the Functional
perspective?
 Essential stabilizing force in a culture
 How might Conflict theorists view language?
 A source of power and control
 Perpetuates inequalities b/w people, groups; words are used to
keep people in their place
Values
Collective ideas about what is right or wrong, good or bad, and
desirable or undesirable in a particular culture
Values
 Values do NOT dictate behavior, but help us evaluate people,
objects, and events.
 Usually come in positive and negative pairs
 brave/cowardly
 Hardworking/lazy
 Create a list of 10 CORE AMERICAN VALUES
Williams’ List of 10 Core American
Values
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Individualism
Achievement & Success
Activity and Work
Science and Technology
Progress and material comfort
Efficiency and practicality
Equality
Morality and humanitarianism
Freedom and Liberty
Racism and group superiority
 Any Value Contradictions?
Ideal vs. Real Culture
 Can you think of a time that your stated what you thought
you should say versus the truth to be better accepted?
 That would be creating an IDEAL culture vs. what you really
do that would be your REAL culture.
 Surveys on drugs and alcohol use
 When teachers ask if you studied for a test…
 Discrepancy between ideal and real culture is relevant to
sociologists and understanding social change
 Can be a source of social problems:
 Concern for the environment, but many still litter, etc.
Core Values Poster
 Your group of 2 or 3 will be assigned one of Williams’ 10
Core American Values.
 You are to create a Propaganda/Marketing poster either
promoting this value to Americans or reflecting how
Americans demonstrate this value.
 You have 20 minutes and must use markers, colors, catchy
phrasing, etc. to sell your value. Be prepared to share to with
the class.
Norms
Established rules of behavior or standards of conduct
Norms
 Prescriptive Norms: behavior that is appropriate or acceptable
 Open a door for someone carrying a heavy object
 Proscriptive Norms: behavior that is not appropriate or
unacceptable
 Driving over the speed limit
 Formal Norms: written down and have specific punishments
 Laws
 Sanctions: rewards positive behavior and punishes negative behavior
 Informal Norms: unwritten standards of behavior
 Holding a door open for someone
 Can have informal sanctions but not clearly defined
INFORMAL NORMS
 Folkways
 Everyday customs that may be violated without serious
consequences
 Provide rules of conduct but not essential to society’s survival
 Examples?
 Deodorant
 Brushing your teeth
 Bathing
 Appropriate clothing
 Manners
 Learned patterns of behavior that can vary greatly from
culture to culture
FORMAL NORMS
 Mores
 A particular culture’s strongly held norms with moral and ethical
connotations that may not be violated without serious consequences
 Violators are subject to negative sanctions
 Loss of employment, imprisonment, ridicule
 Examples?
 Insubordination
 Lewd actions
 Public intoxication
 Incest
 TABOOS: strong mores that are considered extremely offensive and
even unmentionable
 Laws: formal, standardized norms that have been enacted by
legislatures and are enforced by formal sanctions.
 Civil (disputes) or Criminal (safety and well-being)
The Breakfast Club
 While viewing the film, identify the following information for
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each main character…
1. Character Name
2. Social Clique
3. Ideal Culture
4. Real Culture
5. Values?
6. Why in Saturday Detention?
 This information will be discussed and used further in another
assignment…
The Breakfast Club Part 2
 Character Conclusion…
 Based on what you’ve learned about each character throughout the film
you are to predict what happens on MONDAY…
 In groups of 2 or 3 ( no larger), pick a character, discuss
and analyze their growth through the film and then write
a brief synopsis of how that character will behave in
school on Monday.
 Will he/she interact with any of the others on Monday?
If so who and why? Etc.
 Try to be somewhat cognizant of what might be reality
on Monday, but do have a little fun with this…and try to
keep the essence of the character.
Please write up one copy of your conclusion and be prepared to
share with the class.
Cultural Diversity
Subculture, Counterculture, Ethnocentrism
Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Societies
 HOMOGENEOUS SOCIETY
 Includes people who share similar social, religious, political and economic
backgrounds
 Ex. Sweden
 HETEROGENEOUS SOCIETY
 Includes people who are dissimilar in social characteristics such as religion,
income, race/ethnicity
 Ex. United States
 Immigration contributes to cultural diversity in society
 Can cause tension as immigrants may force a change in the once dominant
society
 People who feel as though they “don’t belong” to the dominant group
will find social support in a subculture or counterculture…
Subculture
 A category of people who share distinguishing attributes,
beliefs, values, and/or norms that set them apart in some
significant manner from the dominant culture.
 They don’t necessarily reject society, just do things a little
differently
 Ex. Native Americans, religions, Yankees fans, Dead Heads
 While watching Dead Heads: An American Subculture,
 List some examples of how Dead Heads reinvent society to fit
their needs without completely rejecting societal norms/values
Ethnic Subcultures
 People who have unique shared behaviors linked
to a common racial, language, or national
background
 MELTING POT?
 SALAD BOWL?
 Which analogy do you agree with and why?
Counterculture
 Group that strongly rejects dominant societal
values and norms and seeks alternative lifestyles
Examples: “Hippies” of the 1960’s
Beatniks of the 1950’s
Ku Klux Klan
Ethnocentrism
 The practice of judging all other cultures by one’s own
culture
 Assumption that one’s own way of life is superior to all
others
 Positive = national anthem, school song,
 Negative=derogatory stereotypes that ridicule minorities’
habits, customs, etc. from the dominant culture
 Cultural Relativism: the belief that the behaviors and
customs must be viewed and analyzed by the culture’s
own standards
 Ex. Cows and Hindus
 Cannibalism?
High Culture vs. Pop Culture
 High Culture:
consists of classical music, opera,
ballet, live theater, and other activities usually
patronized by elite audiences; upper-middle and
upper classes
 Seen in the country as diffused from Europe
consists of activities, products, and
services that are assumed to appeal primarily to
members of the middle and working classes.
 Popular Culture:
 ex. Sports events, soap operas, movies
 Seen to be “homegrown” American culture
High vs. Pop
 Sociologists primarily link culture to social class.
 Cultural capital theory: view high culture as a device
used by the dominant class to exclude the subordinate
classes.
 Explain?
 Types of Pop Culture
 Fads (short term trend)
 Fashion (longer lasting trend)
Cultural Imperialism
 Extensive infusion of one nation’s culture
into other nations
Examples:??
Cultural Imperialism
Cultural Imperialism
Cultural Imperialism
Sociological Analysis of Culture
Functionalist, Conflict, Symbolic, Post-Modern
Complete the chart…
Sociological Perspective
Functionalist Perspective
Conflict Perspective
Symbolic Interactionist
Perspective
Postmodern Perspective
Complete the chart…
Soc Perspectives on
CULTURE
Functionalist Perspective
Conflict Perspective
Culture helps meet their biological ,
instrumental and expressive needs
Ideas are a cultural creation of
society’s most powerful members
and can be used by the ruling class to
affect the thoughts and actions of
members of other classes
Symbolic
Interactionist
Perspective
People create, maintain
and modify culture
during their everyday
activities; but can take
a life of their own and
control people
Postmodern Perspective Must of culture today is
based on simulation of
reality rather than reality
itself