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Ch. 3

Ch. 3. Culture. What is Culture?. Culture is the entire way of life for a group of people ; consists of material objects, patterns of thinking, feeling, language, beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors passed from one generation to the next

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Ch. 3

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  1. Ch. 3 Culture

  2. What is Culture? • Culture is the entire way of life for a group of people; consists of material objects, patterns of thinking, feeling, language, beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors passed from one generation to the next • Material Culture - includes the objects associated with a cultural group, such as tools, machines, utensils, buildings, and artwork. • Nonmaterial/Symbolic Culture - includes ways of thinking (beliefs, values, and assumptions) and ways of behaving (norms, interactions, and communication).

  3. Culture and Taken-for-Granted Orientations • What is Normal, Natural, or Usual? • Learned - passed from one generation to the next through communication—not genetics • Culture as Lens: through which we perceive and evaluate things • Provides implicit instructions and a moral imperative that defines what we think is right and wrong • Culture Shock • Ethnocentrism

  4. Practicing Cultural Relativism • Consists of trying to appreciate other group’s ways of like in the context in which they exist, w/out judging them as superior or inferior to our own. • Understanding Cultures on Their Own Terms • When studying any group, it is important to try to employ cultural relativism because it helps sociologists see others more objectively. • “Sick Cultures” based on “quality of life - Robert Edgerton

  5. Components of Symbolic Culture Gestures • Conveying Messages without Words • Gestures’ Meaning Differ Among Cultures • Can Lead to Misunderstandings

  6. Components of Symbolic Culture • The creation and transmission of culture depends heavily on the capacity to develop symbols. • Symbols (signs) - things that stand for, or represent, something else. Can also include gestures (e.g., a hand wave). • Language – a system of symbols (vocal, written, gestures) that can be combined in an infinite number of ways, to communicate abstract thought. • This is probably the most significant component of culture because it allows and serves as primary means of communicate.

  7. Components of Symbolic Culture Language • Allows Human Experience to be Cumulative • Provides Social or Shared Past • Provides Social or Shared Future • Allows Shared Perspective • Allows Complex, Shared, Goal-Directed Behavior

  8. Language and Perception: Sapir-Whorf • The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - the idea that language is so important because it has embedded within it ways of looking at the world • Language shapes our reality. • Our perception of reality is at the mercy of the words and grammatical rules of our language. • Studies demonstrate that language significantly shapes thought.

  9. Values, Norms, and Sanctions • Values – Standards by which we define good/bad, desirable; guide the creation of norms • Norms - Expectations or rules for behavior as acceptable and appropriate within a culture; guide the creation of laws • Sanctions - Reaction to following or breaking norms; used to encourage conformity to norms;help to establish social control, the formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity to values and norms and thus increase social cohesion. • Positive sanctions • Negative sanctions • Taboos – Norms so strongly ingrained that eve the thought of them is greeted with revulsion

  10. Cultural Diversity • Multiculturalismvalues diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds and thus encourages the retention of cultural differences within society, rather than assimilation. • However, we still often see the dominant culture as the norm, and therefore many minority cultures feel pressure to conform. • The dominant culture refers to the values, norms, and practices of the group within society that is most powerful in terms of wealth, prestige, status, and influence; varies from culture to culture. • Examples: WASPs, men

  11. Subcultures • Subculture - a group within society that is differentiated by its distinctive values, norms, and lifestyle; a world within the dominant culture; a group that is part of the dominant culture but differs from it in some important respects. • By tradition, Americans like to see themselves as part of a large, single culture. Yet there are many subgroups with cultural uniqueness.

  12. Countercultures • Countercultures - groups within society that openly reject, and may actively oppose, society’s values and norms • Openly/deliberately/and consciously defies norms, values, and/or beliefs of the dominant culture. • Rebelling against the dominant culture is central to their members. • Examples: militia movement, skinheads, hippies

  13. Values in U.S. Society • Values – broad cultural principles that most people in a society consider desirable. • They do not specify precisely what to think, feel, or behave. Rather, they are ideas about what a group of people believe is good/bad, acceptable/unacceptable • They are important because they have a tremendous influence on social behavior. • Norms are based on a culture’s values. • Handout: 15 US Values…

  14. Activity: Scavenger Hunt! !!

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