Essentials of Sociology

9 th Edition Chapter 2: Culture This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 1

Culture

Chapter Overview



What is Culture?



Components of Symbolic Culture



Many Cultural Worlds: Subcultures and Countercultures



Values in U.S. Society



Technology in the Global Village



Cultural Lag, Diffusion, and Labeling

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Culture

What is Culture?



Culture is

:  The language, beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors passed on from one generation to the next  How is this accomplished?

 Material vs. Nonmaterial Cultures 

Cultural Lag

: When nonmaterial culture lags behind material culture Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Culture

Ethnocentrism and Culture Shock

 What is Normal, Natural, or Usual?

 We believe

our

ways are “Normal” 

Ethnocentrism

-the belief that our culture is the “best” 

Culture Shock-

coming into contact with a culture that is different from what we know Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 4

Culture

Cultural Relativism

 Understanding a cultures practices from their perspective  i.e., Bull Fighting in Spain  Richard Edgerton - “Sick Cultures” Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Culture

Components of Symbolic Culture

 Symbols  Gestures  Language  Norms (Folkways, Mores, Taboos)  Values Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Culture

    

Five Purposes of Language

Allows Human Experience to Be Cumulative Provides a Social or Shared Past Provides a Social or Shared Future Allows Shared Perspectives Allows Complex, Shared, Goal-Directed Behavior Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 7

Culture

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

 Instead of objects determining our language, our language determines the way we see objects  i.e. Eskimos and

snow

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 8

Culture

Norms and Sanctions

   

Norms

- Expectations or rules for behavior Informal and Formal Norms Norms will change as cultures change

Sanctions

- Reaction to following or breaking norms  Positive Sanctions  Negative Sanctions Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Culture

Folkways, Mores, and Taboos



Folkways

- Norms that are not strictly enforced 

Mores

- Norms, when broken, go against a society’s basic core values 

Taboos

- Norms, when broken, are considered

repulsive

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 10

Culture

Subcultures and Countercultures

Subculture:

 A world within the dominant culture  The norms and values do not clash with those of the dominant culture

Countercultures:

 A world within the dominant culture  The norms and values clash with those of the dominant culture Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 11

Culture

Values in U.S. Society

Achievement and Success Progress Equality Individualism Material Comfort Racism and Group Superiority Activity and Work Humanitarianism Efficiency and Practicality Science and Technology Freedom Democracy Education Religiosity Romantic Love

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 12

Culture

Value Clusters and Contradictions



Value Clusters:

Values that are similar to each other 

Value Contradictions:

Values that contradict one another Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Culture

Emerging Values

 Leisure  Self-fulfillment  Physical Fitness  Youthfulness  Concern for the Environment Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Culture

Ideal vs. Real Culture

 Sociologists use the term

ideal culture

to refer to the values, norms, and goals that a group considers ideal, worth aiming for (i.e Success).

 Sociologists call the norms and values that people actually follow

real culture

. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Culture

Technology in the Global Village

 Central to a group’s material culture is its technology. Technology can be equated with tools.



New technology

refers to an emerging technology that has a significant impact on social life. 

Technology sets the framework for a group’s nonmaterial culture.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 16

Culture

Cultural Diffusion and Cultural Leveling



Cultural Diffusion

: The

spreading

of cultural characteristics from one culture to another 

Why is this happening so rapidly?



Cultural Leveling

: When cultures start to become

similar

to each other Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 17

Culture