Essentials of Sociology

Home , Cultural lag, Culture shock, Dominant culture, Symbolic culture

9 th Edition

Chapter 2: Culture e

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. t1 Culture Chapter Overview n What is Culture? n Values in U.S. Society n Components of n Technology in the Symbolic Culture Global Village n Many Cultural n Cultural Lag, Worlds: Subcultures Diffusion, and Labeling and Countercultures

— 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. t3 Culture Ethnocentrism and Culture Shock — What is Normal, Natural, or Usual? — We believe our ways are “Normal” — Ethnocentrismthe 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. t4 Culture Cultural Relativism — Understanding a cultures practices from their perspective i.e., Bull Fighting in Spain — Richard Edgerton “Sick Cultures”

— Gestures

— Language

— Norms (Folkways, Mores, Taboos)

— Values

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. t6 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, GoalDirected Behavior

— Instead of objects determining our language, our language determines the way we see objects

i.e. Eskimos and snow

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. t8 Culture Norms and Sanctions — Norms Expectations or rules for behavior v Informal and Formal Norms v 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. t9 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

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. t10 Culture Subcultures and Countercultures Subculture: Ø A world within the dominant culture Ø The norms and values do not clash with those of the dominant culture Countercultures: Ø A world within the dominant culture Ø The norms and values clash with those of the dominant culture

Achievement and Progress Equality Success

Racism and Individualism Material Comfort Group Superiority

Activity and Work Humanitarianism Education

Efficiency and Freedom Religiosity Practicality

Science and Democracy Romantic Love Technology

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. t12 Culture Value Clusters and Contradictions n Value Clusters: Values that are similar to each other n Value Contradictions: Values that contradict one another

— Leisure — Selffulfillment — Physical Fitness — Youthfulness — Concern for the Environment

— 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.

— 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. ØTechnology sets the framework for a group’s nonmaterial culture.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. t16 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