CULTURE CULTURE • PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF SOCIETY SHARED BY PEOPLE: • NORMS • VALUES • KNOWLEDGE • ARTIFACTS • LANGUAGE • SYMBOLS • Way of life… • Learned behavior • Transmitted from generation to generation • Glue that holds a group together Culture MATERIAL CULTURE • PHYSICAL ARTIFACTS THAT PEOPLE ATTACH MEANING TO • CAN BE SEEN AND FELT NONMATERIAL CULTURE • HUMAN CREATIONS (VALUES, NORMS, RITES) • INTANGIBLES TWO ASPECTS OF CULTURE CULTURE MATERIAL Computers Cars Clothes Buildings Jewelry Books NON MATERIAL Ideas Rules Skills Beliefs Language Economic System • WHICH GROUP CHANGES THE FASTEST? • HOW DOES CULTURE CHANGE? • DOES A CULTURE INVENT MORE THAN IT BORROWS? MATERIAL/NONMATERIAL WHEN THE MATERIAL CULTURE DEVELOPS FASTER THAN THE NONMATERIAL CULTURE CULTURE LAG • • • • Disconnect between material and non-material culture Material moving at a faster rate than non-material aspects Causing anxiety, stress, conflict Computer technology & culture lag • High rates of depression among Americans in a hyper technological society Ogburn—Cultural Lag • Language—verbal & nonverbal communication • Norms—rules for behavior (how appropriately to behave?) • Values—Collective concepts of right/wrong, desirability, etc • Sanctions— reward/punishment to enforce norms Elements of culture GENERAL IDEA THAT PEOPLE SHARE ABOUT WHAT IS GOOD OR BAD DESIRABLE, NONDESIRABLE VALUE AMERICAN CORE VALUES • • • • • • • • • ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS COMPETITIVENESS HUMANITARIANISM EQUALITY FREEDOM CONFORMITY NATIONALISM INDIVIDUALITY RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUP SUPERIORITY • GUIDELINE FOR ACTION • EXPLICIT (WRITTEN LAWS/BIBLICAL COMMANDMENTS) • UNSPOKEN • SMOKING (1950s COMPARED TO TODAY) NORMS • PEOPLE OBEY THEM WITHOUT GIVING MUCH THOUGHT TO THE MATTER • SIMPLY EVERYDAY HABITS COVERING YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU YAWN FOLKWAYS • NORMS PEOPLE CONSIDER VITAL TO THEIR WELL BEING AND TO THEIR MOST CHERISHED VALUES • PEOPLE WHO VIOLATE ARE CONSIDERED TO BE UNFIT FOR SOCIETY • PROHIBITIONS OF INCEST, CHILD ABUSE, AND CANNIBALISM MORES • Are mores so strongly held that their violation is considered to be extremely offensive Taboos • RULES ENACTED BY A POLITICAL BODY AND ENFORCED BY THE POWER OF THE STATE • ENFORCED BY THE POLICE, MILITARY LAWS • Language is defined as a set of symbols that express ideas and enable people to think and communicate with one another • Used to express feelings about past and future • Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis- language not only expresses our thoughts and perceptions, it also influences our perceptions of reality • Language can influence perceptions of race for example Language Impact of Language • HOW COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CULTURES IS AFFECTED BY ONE’S OWN CULTURE • SYMBOLS (CROSS/FLAGS) • GESTURES (NONVERBAL) • LANGUAGE (GERMAN SPEAKING ENGLISH) CULTURAL TRANSMISSION (cultural diffusion) • Is culture a dividing concept or unifying concept? • Common traits, features found in most cultures • • • • Religions Family Recreation Education Cultural Universals-Murdock • Subculture—segments of society believe distinctive norms, values, etc. • Examples • Counter-culture—segments of society rejects basic values, values • Examples Cultural variations… • Culture shock • Feeling of disorientation, discomfort, and fearful facing cultural variations Cultural Variation… • Ethnocentrism—judging/seeing other culture from one’s own experience • Relativism—judging each culture in its own terms (Weber’s value neutrality) • Xenocentrism—judging one’s own culture as inferior Attitudes toward Variations… THE TENDENCY TO VIEW ONE’S OWN CULTURAL PATTERNS AS GOOD AND RIGHT AND THOSE OF OTHERS AS STRANGE OR EVEN IMMORAL ETHNOCENTRISM • SOMETHING IS ONLY UNDERSTOOD WITHIN THE BOUNDRIES OF ITS OWN CULTURE • WHICH MESSAGES ARE CULTURE BOUND AND IN ANOTHER CULTURE MIGHT HAVE A DIFFERENT MEANING OR NONE AT ALL? CULTURE BOUND • Refers to societies with very similar social, religious, and political backgrounds Cultural Homogenity • Refers to societies with very diverse components (like America) Cultural Heterogeneity • How has the Internet contributed to American culture? • How has the Internet contributed to the dysfunction of American culture? Interview with an Immigrant Student Decoding Culture Cafeteria and Class observations