3-1

Richard T. Schaefer

SOCIOLOGY:
Eighth Edition

McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
3

chapter
CULTURE
CHAPTER OUTLINE

•Culture and Society
•Development of Culture around the World
•Elements of Culture
•Culture and the Dominant Ideology
•Cultural Variation
•Social Policy and Culture: Bilingualism
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Culture and Society

3-3

█ Culture: totality of learned, socially
transmitted customs, knowledge,
material objects, and behavior
– Culture includes all objects and ideas
within a society, values, customs, and
artifacts of groups of people
• Does not refer to fine arts or intellectual
taste

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tattooing?

McGraw-Hill

3-4

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-5

█ We have come a long way from our
prehistoric age and we are
remarkably different from other
species of the animal kingdom.
█ Human culture has been evolving for
thousands of years.
█ Tracing human culture is not easy.
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-6

█ Cultural Universals
– All societies have
developed certain
common practices and
beliefs.
– They are not uniform
– Most human cultures
change and expand
through innovation and
diffusion
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-7

█ Innovation
– Process of introducing a new idea or
object to a culture
– Innovation may take the form of either
discovery or invention
• Discovery: making known or sharing
existence of an aspect of reality
• Invention: when existing cultural items are
combined into a form that did not exist
before
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-8

█ Globalization, Diffusion, and
Technology
– Globalization: worldwide integration of
government policies, cultures, social
movements, and financial markets
through trades and the exchange of
ideas

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-9

█ Globalization, Diffusion, and
Technology
– Diffusion: process by which a cultural
item spreads from group to group or
society to society

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-10

█ Globalization, Diffusion, and
Technology
– Technology: “cultural information about
how to use the material resources of the
environment to satisfy human needs
and desires” (Nolan and Lenski 1999).
• Accelerates the diffusion of scientific
innovations
• Transmits culture
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-11

█ Globalization, Diffusion, and
Technology
– Material culture: physical or
technological aspects of our daily lives
•Food
•Houses
•Factories
•Raw materials
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-12

█ Globalization, Diffusion, and
Technology
– Nonmaterial Culture: ways of using
material objects
•Customs
as well as:
•Beliefs
•Government
•Patterns of
communication
•Philosophies
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Development of Culture
Around the World

3-13

█ Globalization, Diffusion, and
Technology
– Culture Lag: period of maladjustment
when nonmaterial culture is still
struggling to adapt to new material
conditions.

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-14

█ Language
– Abstract system of word meanings and
symbols for all aspects of culture.
Includes speech, written
characters, numerals, symbols,
and gestures and expressions of
nonverbal communication

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-15

█ Language
– Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Language precedes thought.
Language is not a given.
Language is culturally determined.

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-16

█ Language
– Nonverbal Communication
• Use of gestures, facial expressions, and
other visual images to communicate
• Not the same in all cultures
• Learned just as we learn other forms of
language

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
3-17

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-18

█ Norms
– Established standards of behavior
maintained by a society
To be significant, must be widely
shared and understood

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-19

█ Norms
– Types of Norms
• Formal norms
– Generally written down; specify strict
punishments for violations

• Informal norms
– Generally understood but not precisely
recorded

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-20

█ Norms
– Types of Norms
• Mores
– Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare
of a society, often because they embody the
most cherished principles of a people

• Folkways
– Norms governing everyday behavior

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-21

█ Norms
– Acceptance of Norms
• Subject to change as political, economic,
and social conditions of a culture are
transformed

█ Sanctions
– Penalties and rewards for conduct
concerning a social norm
• May be either positive or negative
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

McGraw-Hill

3-22

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-23

█ Values
– Collective conceptions of what is good,
desirable, and proper—or bad,
undesirable, and improper—in a culture
Influence people’s behavior
Criteria for evaluating actions of
others

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Elements of Culture

3-24

█ Values may be specific or they may
be more general.
█ Values may change but only slowly.

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Culture and the Dominant
Ideology

3-25

█ Dominant Ideology
– Describes the set of cultural beliefs and
practices that help to maintain powerful
social, economic, and political interests
• Control wealth and property
• Control the means of producing beliefs
about reality through:
– religion
– education
– the media
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cultural Variation

3-26

█ Aspects of Cultural Variation
– Subculture: Segment of society that
shares distinctive pattern of mores,
folkways, and values that differs from
the larger society
• A subculture is
a culture existing
within a larger,
dominant culture
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cultural Variation

3-27

█ Aspects of Cultural Variation
– Counterculture: subculture that
conspicuously and deliberately opposes
certain aspects of the larger culture
• Hippies
• JMB

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cultural Variation

3-28

█ Cultural Variation
– Culture shock: Feeling disoriented,
uncertain, out of place, or fearful when
immersed in an unfamiliar culture

McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cultural Variation

3-29

█ Attitudes Toward Cultural Variation
– Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume that
one’s own culture and way of life represents
the norm or is superior to all others.
– Cultural relativism: views people’s behaviors
from the perspective of their own culture
– Xenocentrism: Belief that products, styles, or
ideas of one’s society are inferior to those that
originate elsewhere
McGraw-Hill

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Schaefer6e ppt ch03

  • 1.
    3-1 Richard T. Schaefer SOCIOLOGY: EighthEdition McGraw-Hill McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 2.
    3 chapter CULTURE CHAPTER OUTLINE •Culture andSociety •Development of Culture around the World •Elements of Culture •Culture and the Dominant Ideology •Cultural Variation •Social Policy and Culture: Bilingualism McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 3.
    Culture and Society 3-3 █Culture: totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior – Culture includes all objects and ideas within a society, values, customs, and artifacts of groups of people • Does not refer to fine arts or intellectual taste McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 4.
    Tattooing? McGraw-Hill 3-4 © 2006 TheMcGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 5.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-5 █ We have come a long way from our prehistoric age and we are remarkably different from other species of the animal kingdom. █ Human culture has been evolving for thousands of years. █ Tracing human culture is not easy. McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 6.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-6 █ Cultural Universals – All societies have developed certain common practices and beliefs. – They are not uniform – Most human cultures change and expand through innovation and diffusion McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 7.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-7 █ Innovation – Process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture – Innovation may take the form of either discovery or invention • Discovery: making known or sharing existence of an aspect of reality • Invention: when existing cultural items are combined into a form that did not exist before McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 8.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-8 █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology – Globalization: worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trades and the exchange of ideas McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 9.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-9 █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology – Diffusion: process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 10.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-10 █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology – Technology: “cultural information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires” (Nolan and Lenski 1999). • Accelerates the diffusion of scientific innovations • Transmits culture McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 11.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-11 █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology – Material culture: physical or technological aspects of our daily lives •Food •Houses •Factories •Raw materials McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 12.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-12 █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology – Nonmaterial Culture: ways of using material objects •Customs as well as: •Beliefs •Government •Patterns of communication •Philosophies McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 13.
    Development of Culture Aroundthe World 3-13 █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology – Culture Lag: period of maladjustment when nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions. McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 14.
    Elements of Culture 3-14 █Language – Abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture. Includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and gestures and expressions of nonverbal communication McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 15.
    Elements of Culture 3-15 █Language – Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Language precedes thought. Language is not a given. Language is culturally determined. McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 16.
    Elements of Culture 3-16 █Language – Nonverbal Communication • Use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate • Not the same in all cultures • Learned just as we learn other forms of language McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 17.
    3-17 McGraw-Hill © 2006 TheMcGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 18.
    Elements of Culture 3-18 █Norms – Established standards of behavior maintained by a society To be significant, must be widely shared and understood McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 19.
    Elements of Culture 3-19 █Norms – Types of Norms • Formal norms – Generally written down; specify strict punishments for violations • Informal norms – Generally understood but not precisely recorded McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 20.
    Elements of Culture 3-20 █Norms – Types of Norms • Mores – Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society, often because they embody the most cherished principles of a people • Folkways – Norms governing everyday behavior McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 21.
    Elements of Culture 3-21 █Norms – Acceptance of Norms • Subject to change as political, economic, and social conditions of a culture are transformed █ Sanctions – Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm • May be either positive or negative McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 22.
    Elements of Culture McGraw-Hill 3-22 ©2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 23.
    Elements of Culture 3-23 █Values – Collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper—or bad, undesirable, and improper—in a culture Influence people’s behavior Criteria for evaluating actions of others McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 24.
    Elements of Culture 3-24 █Values may be specific or they may be more general. █ Values may change but only slowly. McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 25.
    Culture and theDominant Ideology 3-25 █ Dominant Ideology – Describes the set of cultural beliefs and practices that help to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests • Control wealth and property • Control the means of producing beliefs about reality through: – religion – education – the media McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 26.
    Cultural Variation 3-26 █ Aspectsof Cultural Variation – Subculture: Segment of society that shares distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the larger society • A subculture is a culture existing within a larger, dominant culture McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 27.
    Cultural Variation 3-27 █ Aspectsof Cultural Variation – Counterculture: subculture that conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture • Hippies • JMB McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 28.
    Cultural Variation 3-28 █ CulturalVariation – Culture shock: Feeling disoriented, uncertain, out of place, or fearful when immersed in an unfamiliar culture McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • 29.
    Cultural Variation 3-29 █ AttitudesToward Cultural Variation – Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to all others. – Cultural relativism: views people’s behaviors from the perspective of their own culture – Xenocentrism: Belief that products, styles, or ideas of one’s society are inferior to those that originate elsewhere McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Editor's Notes