SOCIOLOGY A Down-to-Earth Approach 8/e James M. Henslin Chapter Two Culture This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: • any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; • preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; • any rental, lease, or lending of the program. Chapter 2: Culture What is Culture? - Basics in Sociology Language, Beliefs, Values, Norms, Behavior Passed from One Generation to the Next Story in Morocco – unfamiliar territory and universal norms Material – Jewelry, art, buildings, etc. Nonmaterial Cultures – beliefs, values, etc. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 2 Chapter 2: Culture Culture and Taken-for-Granted Orientations Using your sociological imagination in culture Meeting someone new and seeing the effects of a much different culture Internalization of our norms – eye contact, space, etc. Culture Shock – When your material and non-material fail you. The eerie feeling is culture shock. Ex. Pushing Ethnocentrism – “Culture within us” - Positive/Negative Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 3 Chapter 2: Culture Practicing Cultural Relativism Understanding cultures on their own terms Not seeing the culture as inferior or superior None of us can be entirely successful at practicing cultural relativism. Strange foods. p.39 Evaluation through our lens. “Sick Cultures” – Robert Edgerton - Lack of enhancement in our lives Confronting Contrasting Views of Reality Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 4 Chapter 2: Culture Components of Symbolic Culture or Non-Material Culture Symbol – something to which people attach meaning and that they use to communicate Gestures Using ones body to convey messages without words Gestures’ meaning differ among cultures Can Lead to Misunderstandings Looking like a Monkey – “Your momma is a whore” Left handed Americans Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 5 Chapter 2: Culture Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 6 Chapter 2: Culture Components of Symbolic Culture Language Because written language lacks subtle cues, Emoticons – online use Provides social or shared past Provides social or shared future Allows shared perspective Allows complex, shared, goal-directed behavior Like Gestures the same sound in one culture is entirely different in another Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 7 Chapter 2: Culture Emoticons - Mike Jones Microsoft Programmer :-) Smile ;-) Smile with a wink :<}) User with mustache, smiling :-|| Mad :-)) Really happy :-D Big grin :-* A kiss :' -( Crying :-P~ A lick :-P Sticking out your tongue =8O Bug-eyed with :-~~~ fright Drooling =:O Frightened (hair standing on end) User sports a mohawk and admires Mr. T Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 -:-) 8 Chapter 2: Culture Language and Perception: Sapir-Whorf Language Has Embedded Within It Ways of Looking at the World Sapir-Whorf Reverses Common Sense It is our language that determines our consciousness Language both reflects and shapes cultural experiences Ex. Goth’s, Jock’s Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 9 Chapter 2: Culture Values, Norms, and Sanctions Values - What is desirable in life The standards at which we determine what is good or bad Norms - Expectations or rules for behavior “Should Do” Expectations in our societies Sanctions - Reaction to following or breaking norms Positive Sanctions Negative Sanctions Moral Holidays – Mardi Gras, Party Cove Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 10 Chapter 2: Culture Folkways and Mores Folkways - Norms not strictly enforced Walking on the right side of the sidewalk Holding a door Mores - Core Values: We insist on conformity Taboo – Most extreme more Law Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 11 Subcultures and Countercultures Chapter 2: Culture Subculture - A World Within the Dominant Culture Example – Physicians Tens of thousands of subcultures Some broad – Some specific Countercultures - Groups With Norms and Values at Odds With the Dominant Culture Survivalists -a person who anticipates and prepares for a future disruption Enthusiasts v. Gangs Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 12 Chapter 2: Culture Values in U.S. Society Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Achievement and Success Progress Equality Individualism Material Comfort Racism and Group Superiority Activity and Work Humanitarianism Education Efficiency and Practicality Freedom Religiosity Science and Technology Democracy Romantic Love 13 Values Clusters, Contradictions, and Social Change Chapter 2: Culture Value Clusters – values that together form a larger whole Hard work, education, efficiency, material comfort, and individualism are bound together Value Contradiction – to follow the one means that you will come in conflict with another. Freedom, democracy applied only to some groups. Women's Liberation, Racism, Sexism “It is precisely at the point of value contradictions, then, that one can see a major force for social change in a society.” Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 14 Chapter 2: Culture Emerging Values Leisure Luxury Crusies Self-fulfillment Self help movement Physical Fitness Fitness centers, IE Curves For Women Youthfulness Botox Concern for the Environment Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 15 Chapter 2: Culture Values and Culture Culture Wars: When Values Clash Homosexuality Value as Blinders – What is attainable? “Ideal” vs. “Real” Culture Norms, values etc. that the group sees as ideal However most people don’t reach these ideals, this is what sociologist call Real Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 16 Chapter 2: Culture Cultural Universals Some Activities are Universal - Courtship, Marriage, Funerals, Games Page 56 Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 17 Chapter 2: Culture Sociobiology Controversial View of Human Behavior Biology Cause of Human Behavior Charles Darwin and Natural Selection Sociologists and Social Biologists on Opposite Sides Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 18 Chapter 2: Culture Technology in the Global Village The New Technology - New Tools Cultural Lag and Cultural Change Technology and Cultural Leveling Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 19