6 Elements of Culture
What is Culture?
• The ways of life & knowledge of a grp of ppl
• According to Ralph Linton:
– The knowledge, attitudes, & behavior patterns shared and
transmitted by the members of a society
• 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
#1= Social Organization
• The way a culture divides its society into smaller
structures/ groups
• Sociology= the study of the development,
organization, & functioning of society
• What is the most important social unit?
– Family
• Family patterns
– Nuclear family- wife, husb, 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
• Kinship= concept that everyone is related
to someone
– There are rules (ie uncles can’t marry nieces)
• Clan= ppl w/in an ethnic grp who claim to
be descended from a common ancestor
• Social Classes= rank ppl according to
status in society
– Can be based on $, occupation, heredity,
education, etc
• Social mobility= chance to move up and
down the social ladder.
#2- 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 langs have root in same source.
Largest major language family is the Indo-European
Language
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Clothes
Foods
Education
Occupation
#3- Arts & Literature
• Products of human imagination teach us about
cultural values. Can encourage pride or
criticize.
• Includes:
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Painting
Sculpture
music
Drawing
Theatre
Literature
architecture
#4- Religion
• Helps ppl answer the basic questions about the
meaning of life; supports the values of a culture; can
shape morals & ethics of a grp of ppl
• 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
#5- Forms of Government
• Gov’t is designed to provide for
ppl’s common needs- keeping
order in society & protecting it from
outside threats
– Refers to the person(s) who holds pwr
and to society’s laws & institutions.
• Types of Gov’t:
– Democracy- the ppl have supreme
pwr. Gov’t acts by & w/ their consent
– Republic- ppl choose the leaders who
will represent them
– Dictatorship- a ruler (or grp acting as
1) holds pwr by force. Often uses
military to stay in office.
#6- Economic Systems
• How ppl 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- ppl prod most of what they need to
survive. Hunting/gathering or farming/herding societies.
• Market economy- indivs answer the econ questions by buying &
selling goods & services
• Command economy- gov’t controls what goods are prod, how
they are prod & what they cost. Indivs have little econ pwr
• Mixed economy- indivs make some decisions & gov’t makes
others