Michael Sheinis
Block: 1
10/5/14
Culture
 Is passed on by parents, grandparents, teachers, etc
 Affects the way we think, what we believe (religiously &
morally), what we eat, what we wear, how we behave,
how our society behaves
Social Organization
 Sociology= the study of the development,
organization, & functioning of society
 What is the most important social unit?
 Family
 Family patterns
 Nuclear family- wife, husband, kids.
 Typical to industrialized societies
 Extended family- Several generations in one household.
Parents, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles. Usually in
developing nations.
 Patriarchal- family where the oldest male makes the decisions
 Matriarchal- family where the oldest female makes all the
decisions
Social Organization (cont...)
 Kinship= concept that everyone is related to someone
 There are rules (i.e. uncles can’t marry nieces)
 Clan= people w/in an ethnic group who claim to be
descended from a common ancestor
 Social Classes= rank people according to status in
society
 Can be based on $, occupation, heredity, education, etc
 Social mobility= chance to move up and down the
social ladder.
Customs & Traditions
 Rules of behavior (enforced by social pressures or by
written laws)
 ways of doing everyday things
 Basic moral values
 Language
 Linguistics= the study of languages
 Language families- most languages have root in same source.
Largest major language family is the Indo-European Language
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Clothes
Foods
Education
Occupation
Arts & Literature
 Products of human imagination teach us about
cultural values. Can encourage pride or criticize.
 Includes:
 Painting
 Sculpture
 music
 Drawing
 Theatre
 Literature
 architecture
Religion
 Helps people answer the basic questions about the
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meaning of life; supports the values of a culture; can
shape morals & ethics of a group of people
Monotheism- belief/worship of 1 god
Polytheism- belief/worship of more than 1 god
Animism- belief that everything in nature has a spirit
The 5 Major World Religions:
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Hinduism
Buddhism
Christianity
Judaism
Islam
Language
 Cornerstone of Culture
 Culture passed through language
 All cultures have language
 Language reflects a culture’s identity
 Some countries have mixed languages
Forms of Government
 Government is designed to provide for people‘s
common needs- keeping order in society &
protecting it from outside threats
 Refers to the person(s) who holds power and to society’s
laws & institutions.
 Types of Governments:
 Democracy- the people have supreme pwr.
Governments acts by & w/ their consent
 Republic- people choose the leaders who will represent
them
 Dictatorship- a ruler (or group acting as 1) holds power
by force. Often uses military to stay in office.
Economic Systems
 How people use limited resources to satisfy their wants & needs
 3 questions:
 What goods & services should we produce?
 How should we produce them?
 For whom should we produce them?
 Traditional economy- people prod most of what they need to
survive. Hunting/gathering or farming/herding societies.
 Market economy- individuals answer the econ questions by
buying & selling goods & services
 Command economy- government controls what goods are prod,
how they are prod & what they cost. Individuals have little econ
power
 Mixed economy- individuals make some decisions & government
makes others
Examples of communication
 The process of sending and
receiving messages through verbal or nonverbal
means--speech (oral communication),writing (written
communication), signs, signals, or behavior.