I. Culture and Society: A. What Is Culture?
I. Culture and Society: A. What Is Culture?
I. Culture and Society: A. What Is Culture?
Culture is all the values, norms, and customs that people share
with one another.
Culture includes language and beliefs
Culture is all of the material objects such as monuments, three-
piece suites, the lottery, fur coats, and fine automobiles.
Culture is ideas (like the belief in democracy and freedom) found
within a society.
Culture is what individuals think is right and important as they
interact (Schaefer, 1992:67).
Culture is a way of life. When people talk about "the way of life" of people with
a distinctive life style, whether they live in Appalachia or Norway, they are
talking about culture. It defines what is important and unimportant. Culture
refers to everything that people create. Values, norms, goals, and culture in
general, develop as people interact with one another over time.
Culture provides the context (back ground) that we use to interact with each
other. It defines boundaries that we use to distinguish us from them.
B. Language
C. Perspectives
D. Ethnocentrism
Example
Weber calls attention to the German idea of verstehen to describe the practice
of understanding unique culture from the standpoint of others. Cultural
relativism refers to the understanding of a culture on its own terms. In essence
"you have to be able to stand in the other persons shoes." When you can
"see" from the perspective of another, then you can understand that culture.
Cultural universal refers to a cultural item that exists in all cultures part and
present. Items like religion and language are found in every culture. They are examples
of cultural universals
B. Innovation
C. Diffusion
Sociologists use the term diffusion to refer to the process by which a cultural
item is spread from group to group or society to society. Cultures learn from
one another.
Henslin (2004:51) contends that when groups make contact with one another,
they most often exchange nonmaterial culture.
D. Cultural Leveling
1. Material
weapons
machines
eating utensils
jewelry
art
hair styles
clothing
2. Nonmaterial
language
gestures
values
beliefs
rules (norms)
philosophies
customs
governments
institutions
Appelbaum and Chambliss (1997:42) contend that ideal culture refers to the
norms and values that a society professes to hold. Henslin (2004:49-50) ideal
culture describes models to emulate and which as worth aspiring to.
Real culture refers to norms and values that are followed in practice.
G. Culture Lag
Culture lag refers to the tendency for culture to be slow to adapt to changes in
technology. Technological change can happen over night while some times it
takes culture a few generations to adapt to changes in technology (Henslin,
2004: 50).
Example: When Napster provided free music exchange, the record producers
argued that the practice was unfair, but yet no laws existed which made music
sharing illegal. This example highlights the lag between technology and social
adaptation.
Henslin (2004:50) calls this the distinction between material and non material
culture. Material culture runs ahead of non material culture.
H. Culture Shock
Example
Norms are rather specific while values are abstract and general in nature.
A. Norms
Norms are the shared rules or guidelines that govern our actions in society.
Norms can be laws, but they also can be procedures, morals, customs or
expectations. Many times, One's position within the social structure
determines the definitions of norms. Often norms are outward expressions of
a society's deeply held and shared values.
Norms are important for defining boundaries. The text uses gangs as an
example again. In order to belong to a gang, a potential gang member has to
learn the "norms" of the gang. Norms define us and them.
1. Folkways
Folkways are norms that ordinary people follow in everyday life. Conformity is
expected, but not absolutely insisted on. Folkways are not strictly enforced.
2. Mores
Mores are norms are taken more seriously and are strictly enforced. Henslin
(1999:44) considers them as "essential to our core values." Henslin suggests
that we insist on conformity.
3. Taboo
Taboos approximate super mores. Henslin (1999:44) argues that taboos are
so "strongly ingrained that even the thought of its violation is greeted with
revulsion."
4. Laws
5. Social Control
Society always establishes a way of ensuring that people "behave in expected
and approved ways"
6. Sanctions
B. Values
Countercultures, on the other hand, like the SDS, Hippies, and the Black
Panthers are examples of subcultures that openly oppose the dominant
culture. Countercultures actively seek to change the dominant culture.
The following are two examples of subcultures. They are not counter cultures.
Neither group seeks to change the status quo.
A. The Amish
The goal of the Amish to separate themselves (as much as possible) from the
"negative." They define negative as urban and distant from god. They see the
city as the "center of leisure," of nonproductivity, and wickedness. To avoid
evil, the Amish forbid all intimate contact with outsiders. Contamination by the
outside world tempts one away from the kingdom of god. Part of the
separation from the outside includes not using electricity, telephones, or
automobiles. Married men grow beards, but are not allowed to grow
mustaches. They do not encourage formal education past elementary
school. The Amish use horses and other nonmechanical equipment for
farming.
The Vice Lords is another subculture. In a book called Vice Lords R. Lincoln
Keiser (in Charon, 1987:221-4) discussed four aspects [which Keiser calls
ideological sets] that the Vice Lords use to define their world and guide their
actions. Keiser defines four ideological sets which he calls Heart ideology,
Soul ideology, brotherhood ideology, and game ideology.
1. Heart Ideology:
Heart ideology refers to the displays of courage and daring which are
important for the Vice Lords. A member has to show that he's willing to put his
personal safety on the line. An individual who talks a lot about fighting, but
who doesn't back up his rhetoric is a "punk."
2. Soul Ideology:
Soul for the Vice Lords has the same general connotation as it does for the
Black community. Soul refers to ways of conducting ones self that strips away
the superficial surface and gets down to the nitty-gritty. Soul is the essence of
the Black community. The Vice Lords judge one another in terms of soul.
3. Brotherhood Ideology:
4. Game Ideology: