Slide 1
chapter
three
Sociology in Modules
Richard T. Schaefer
1st Edition
Culture
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 2
3
Culture
•Module 9: What Is Culture?
•Module 10: Development
of Culture around the World
•Module 11: Cultural Variation
•Module 12: Elements of Culture
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 3
A Look Ahead
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How basic is the study
of culture to sociology?
What general cultural practices are found
in all societies and what variations
distinguish one society from another?
What are the major aspects of culture?
How do cultures develop a dominant
ideology, and how do functionalists and
conflict theorists view culture?
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 9
Slide 4
What Is Culture?
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Culture: Totality of
learned, socially transmitted
customs, knowledge,
material objects, and behavior
– Culture includes
ideas, values,
customs, and
artifacts of
groups of people
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 9
Slide 5
Culture and Society
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Society: Large number of people who live
in same territory, who are relatively
independent of people outside that area,
and who participate in a common culture
– Common culture simplifies
day-to-day interactions
– Adorno: worldwide culture
industry limits people choices
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 9
Slide 6
Cultural Universals
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Cultural Universal: certain
common practices and beliefs
that all societies have developed
– Many are adaptations to
meet essential human needs
– Murdoch compiled list of cultural
universals but they are expressed
differently from culture to culture
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 9
Slide 7
Ethnocentrism and
Cultural Relativism
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Ethnocentrism: Tendency to
assume that one’s own culture
and way of life represents the
norm or is superior to others
– Conflict theorists: ethnocentric value
judgments serve to devalue groups
and to deny equal opportunities
– Functionalists: ethnocentrism
maintains sense of solidarity
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 9
Slide 8
Cultural Relativism
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Cultural relativism:
People’s behaviors
from the perspective
of their own culture
– Different social
contexts give
rise to different
norms and values
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 9
Slide 9
Sociobiology and Culture
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Sociobiology: Systematic study of how
biology affects human social behavior
– Founded on
Darwin’s Theory
of Evolution
– Sociobiologists
assert that many
cultural traits rooted
in genetic makeup
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 9
Slide 10
Sociology in the
Global Community
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Cultural Genocide
– How would you react if you were taken
from your parents’ home by a
government agent and moved to a
different family with a different culture?
– What might be the long-term
consequences of American Indian
children’s removal from their families,
besides the destruction of their culture?
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 9
Slide 11
Figure 9-1: Countries with High Child Marriage Rates
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 10
Slide 12
Development of Culture
around the World
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Innovation: process of introducing
a new idea or object to a culture
– Discovery: Making known or sharing
existence of an aspect of reality
– Invention: Existing cultural items combined
into form that did not exist before
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 10
Slide 13
Globalization, Diffusion,
and Technology
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Diffusion: Process by which cultural
item spreads from group to group
– McDonaldization: Process through
which principles of fast-food industry
dominate certain sectors of society
– Technology: Information about how
to use material resources of the
environment to satisfy human
needs and desires (Nolan and Lenski)
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 10
Slide 14
Globalization, Diffusion,
and Technology
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Material culture:
Physical or
technological
aspects of
daily lives
–
–
–
–
Food items
Houses
Factories
Raw materials
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Nonmaterial culture:
Ways of using material
objects as well as:
–
–
–
–
–
Customs
Beliefs
Philosophies
Governments
Patterns
of communication
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 10
Slide 15
Globalization, Diffusion,
and Technology
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Culture lag: Period of maladjustment
when nonmaterial culture struggles to
adapt to new material conditions
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 10
Slide 16
Sociology in
the Global Community
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Life in the Global Village
– Which aspects of globalization
do you find advantageous
and which objectionable?
– How would you feel if the customs
and traditions you grew up with
were replaced by the culture or
values of another country?
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 10
Slide 17
Sociology in
the Global Community
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Cultural Survival in Brazil
– Compare the frontier in Brazil
today to the American West in the
1800s. What similarities do you see?
– What does society lose
when indigenous cultures die?
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 11
Slide 18
Cultural Variation
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Subculture: Segment of society
that shares distinctive pattern
of mores, folkways, and values
that differs from larger society
Argot: Specialized language
that distinguishes a subculture
from the wider society
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 11
Slide 19
Cultural Variation
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Counterculture: Subculture that
conspicuously and deliberately opposes
certain aspects of the larger culture
Culture shock: Feeling disoriented,
uncertain, out of place, or fearful when
immersed in an unfamiliar culture
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 20
Language: Written and Spoken
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Language: Abstract system
of word meanings and
symbols for all aspects of culture
– Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
• Language precedes thought
• Language is not a given
• Language is culturally determined
• Language may color
how we see the world
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 21
Nonverbal Communication
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Nonverbal communication: Use of
gestures, facial expressions, and other
visual images to communicate
– Learned
– Differs by cultures
– Symbols: gestures,
objects, and words that
form basis of human
communication
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 22
Figure 12-1: A Timeless Alert
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 23
Norms and Values
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Norms: Established standards of
behavior maintained by a society
– Formal norms: Generally written;
specify strict punishments
– Law: government social control
– Informal norms: Generally
understood but not precisely recorded
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 24
Types of Norms
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Mores: Norms deemed highly
necessary to the welfare of a society
Folkways: Norms
governing everyday behavior
– In many societies, folkways exist to
reinforce patterns of male dominance
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 25
Acceptance of Norms
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People do not follow
norms in all situations
– Behavior that appears to violate
society’s norms may represent
adherence to a particular group’s norms
– Norms may be violated because
they conflict with other norms
– Acceptance of norms is subject to change
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 26
Sanctions
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Sanctions: Penalties and rewards for
conduct concerning social norm
– Positive sanctions: Pay raises,
medals, and words of gratitude
– Negative sanctions: Fines, threats,
imprisonment, and stares of contempt
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 27
Table 12-1: Norms and Sanctions
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 28
Table 12-2: Sociological Perspectives on Culture
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 29
Values
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Cultural values: Collective conceptions
of what is good, desirable, and proper –
or bad, undesirable, and improper
Influence people’s behavior
Criteria for evaluating actions of others
Values may change
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 30
Figure 12-2: Life Goals of First-Year College
Students in the United States, 1966-2009
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 31
Figure 12-3: Torture Values by Country
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 32
Global Culture War
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Culture war: Polarization of society over
controversial cultural elements
In 1990s, referred to political debates
over abortion, religious expression, gun
control, and sexual orientation
Took on global meaning,
especially after 9/11
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 33
Sociology on Campus
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A Culture of Cheating?
– Do you know anyone who has
engaged in Internet plagiarism?
What about cheating on tests or
falsifying laboratory results?
– Even if cheaters are not caught, what
negative effect does their academic
dishonesty have on them. What effects
does it have on honest students?
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 34
Case Study:
Culture at Wal-Mart
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Wal-Mart is one of the
largest corporations in the world
– Opponents criticize its low pay rates,
lack of health care, lack of
commitment to equal opportunity, and
its negative impact on smaller retailers
– Mistakes made in
Germany and South Korea
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 35
Bilingualism
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Looking at the Issue
– Bilingualism: Use of two or more
languages in a particular setting
– Bilingual education may instruct children
in their native language while gradually
introducing the language of the host society
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 36
Bilingualism
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Looking at the Issue
– Bureau of the Census: about 19%
of population spoke a language
other than English as their
primary language at home in 2008
– Bilingual programs vary widely
so difficult to measure their success
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 37
Bilingualism
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Applying Sociology
– For long time, people in U. S.
demanded conformity to a single language
– Recent decades have seen
challenges to pattern of forced
obedience to the dominant ideology
– Often ignore fact that Bilingual education
programs may have beneficial results
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 38
Bilingualism
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Initiating Policy
– Bilingualism has policy implications in
efforts to maintain language purity and
programs to enhance bilingual education
– Nations vary dramatically in tolerance
• Public concern over potential decline in
use of English appears to be overblown
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 39
Figure 12-4: Percentage of People who Speak a
Language other than English at Home, by State
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 12
Slide 40
Figure 12-5: Proportion of Immigrant
Group Members in Southern California
who Speak the Mother Tongue, by Generation
© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.