9/18/2018 The Foundation of Social Life! • Culture – The beliefs, values, norms of behavior, symbols, Cult and material objects shared by a particular people – Culture is also the social process through which ure meaning is constructed and disseminated Elements of Culture • Norms – Culturally defined standards or rules of conduct • Taboos – things you just don’t do, e.g. cannibalism, incest • Mores – high moral consequences, e.g. murder, armed robbery • Folkways – considerable leeway, e.g. farting in class, picking your nose • Sanctions – rewards or punishments for violating norms Breaking norms, an example: 1 9/18/2018 Elements of Culture • Values – Standard of judgment by which people decide on desirable goals and outcomes – Standards of judgment or desirability • Like what? • Examples: people might value health, privacy, freedom, education, success, hard work, personal property, money, youth, solidarity, etc. Elements of Culture Elements of Culture • Symbols • Language – Something used to represent or stand for – Written or spoken system of symbols that conveys something else meaning – Language is the most powerful system of symbols through which social reality is constructed and maintained • E.g. “Layoff” or “workforce reduction” • E.g. “Collateral damage” or “dead civilians” 2 9/18/2018 Power and Culture Power and Culture • Assigning meaning to symbols is often • Influence over culture increases power to contentious and contested define social reality The Significance of Culture Culture is Learned • Humans need culture to survive • Learned behavior is not instinctual • Culture guides human behavior – “Greed” is not human nature • Culture gives meaning to our lives • We are, for the most part, not instinctual creatures; we are cultural creatures • Specifics of culture change, but culture itself is constant “ABOVE AND BEYOND” OPPORTUNITY! • Identify a FOLKWAY and violate it. Write a Our entire base of brief essay providing a sociological analysis being sure to: knowledge is a 1. Identify the specific norm you violated 2. Describe the reactions of the people around you cultural artifact 3. Explain how you felt while you were violating the norm 4. Discuss what this experiment taught you about socialization and social control 3.