Brainstorm a list of the elements of culture

1. Brainstorm a list of the elements of culture

2. Chapter 3Culture

3. Section 1 The Basis of Culture

4. Culture • The knowledge, language, values, customs, and physical objects that are passed from generation to generation among members of a group • Human creation

5. Material side: physical objects of culture (ex – skyscrapers, computers, cell phones, etc..) • Nonmaterial side: beliefs, rules, customs, family systems • Helps explain human social behavior

6. Society • A group of people who live in a defined territory and participate in a common culture • Culture is the total way of life of a society

7. Instincts • Genetically inherited patterns of behavior

8. Nurture vs. Nature • Is personality a result of heredity {genetics or nature} or as a product of the environment {nurture}?

9. Studies involving identical twins have determined it is about half and half

10. Reflexes • Automatic reactions to physical stimulus • Simple, biological, inherited

11. Drive • Impulse to reduce discomfort • Biologically inherited • Eat, drink, sleep, & associate with others

12. Sociobiology • The study of the biological basis of human behavior combining Darwin’s theory of natural selection with modern genetics

13. Assumes that the behaviors that best help people are biologically based and transmitted in the genetic code • Parental affection and care, friendship, sexual reproduction, education of children

14. Read the information regarding Sociobiology on pp.74-75 • Do you agree with the sociobiology view of human behavior? Why or why not?

15. Read “Another Time” on p.76. Answer #1 & 2

16. Section 2Language and Culture

17. The pen is mightier than _________. • Better safe than __________. • It’s always darkest before ________. • Don’t bite the hand that _________. • No news is ___________. • If you lie down with dogs, you’ll _________.

18. A penny saved is a __________. • None are so blind as ________. • Children should be seen and not _______. • Better late than ___________.

19. Cultural transmission • Transferring of culture from one generation to the next • Heavily dependent upon the use of symbols • Most powerful symbols are those of language

20. Symbols • Things that stand for or represent something else • Range from physical objects to sounds, smells, and tastes

21. Language and Culture • Language frees from the limits of time & place allowing for the creation of culture • Allows the passage of experiences, ideas and knowledge

22. Edward Sapir & Benjamin Whorf • Believe language is our guide to reality; perceptions of the world depend in part on the particular language we have learned • Known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis or the hypothesis of linguistic relativity

23. Vocabulary • Language will have many words to describe the things that are important to it • Something that is not important may not have any words to describe it

24. Exposure to another language or to new words can alter a person’s perception

25. Section 3Norms and Values

26. Norms • Rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior; help explain why people in a society or group behave similarly in similar circumstances • Cultural norms – ways of behaving in specific situations

27. Range from relatively minor rules to extremely important ones (laws)

28. William Graham Sumner • Believed anything can be considered appropriate when norms approve of it • Society members use norms to guide social behavior • Identified 3 basic types of norms: folkways, mores, & laws

29. Folkways • Rules that cover customary ways of thinking, feeling & behaving but lack moral overtones • Supporting school activities, speaking to others in the hallway

30. Mores • Norms of great moral significance; vital to the well-being of a society • Violations bring strong disapproval

31. Taboos • The most serious mores with such strength that violations demand punishment by the group • Incest taboo – only one common to all societies

32. Laws • Norms that are formally defined and enforced by officials • Consciously created and enforced • Mores serve as an important source

33. Sanctions • Rewards and punishments used to encourage conformity to norms • Can be formal and informal

34. Formal sanctions • Sanctions that may be applied only by officially designated persons, such as judges and teachers • Can be both positive or negative rewards

35. Informal sanctions • Sanctions that can be applied by most members of a group; can be positive or negative • Not used randomly or without reason • May sanction ourselves mentally after a certain age

36. Values • Broad ideas about what most people in a society consider to be desirable • Do not dictate precise ways of thinking, feeling & behaving

37. Influence human social behavior by forming the basis of norms

38. Basic Values in the U.S. • Achievement & success • Activity & work • Efficiency & practicality • Equality • Democracy • Group superiority

39. ?????? • Racism, based on a belief in the superiority of one group over another, remains part of the fabric of American culture.

40. Section 4Beliefs and Material Culture

41. What are beliefs?

42. Nonmaterial culture • Ideas, knowledge and beliefs that influence people’s behavior

43. Beliefs • Ideas about the nature of reality • Basis for human behavior regardless of truth

44. Material culture • the concrete, tangible objects of a culture • Have no meaning or use apart from the meanings people give them

45. Read the section on p.93 about nettling

46. How is material culture related to nonmaterial culture? • Uses and meanings of physical objects can vary among societies • Cultural meaning of physical objects is not determined by the physical characteristics of the objects • Meanings are based on beliefs, norms & values

47. Ideal culture • Cultural guidelines publicly embraced by members of a society • Ex: honesty

48. Real culture • Actual behavior patterns which often conflict with ideal culture

49. Section 5Cultural Diversity & Similarity

50. Why does culture change? • Discovery: process of finding something that already exists • Invention: creation of something new • Diffusion: borrowing of aspects of culture from other cultures (ex: food)