Transcript Chapter 3

The values , beliefs, behavior, and material objects
that, together, form a people’s way of life.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Nonmaterial & Material Culture
 Nonmaterial culture
 The intangible world of
ideas created by members
of a society.
 Material culture
 The tangible things created
by members of a society.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Culture Shock
 DISORIENTATION
DUE TO THE
INABILITY TO MAKE
SENSE OUT OF ONE’S
SURROUNDINGS.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Judging Other Cultures
 ETHNOCENTRISM
 A BIASED “CULTURAL
YARDSTICK”
 JUDGING ANOTHER
CULTURE USING THE
STANDARDS OF YOUR
OWN CULTURE.
 CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 ALTERNATIVE TO
ETHNOCENTRISM
 JUDGING A CULTURE
BY ITS OWN
STANDARDS.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Coping with Culture Shock
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Ethnocentrism
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Discussion Questions
 Culture shock happens even in our own
communities as we confront people of other
colors, cultures and class positions.
 Give me an example of when you (or
someone you know) have experienced
culture shock.
 Have you ever acted in an ethnocentric
manner?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Culture & Human Intelligence
 Our planet – 4.5 billion years old
 Life appeared – 3.5 billion years ago
 ~65 million years ago primates




appeared
250,000 years ago – homo sapiens
(Latin – “thinking person”) appeared
40,000 years ago – humans like us
roamed Earth
Homo sapiens quickly developed
culture.
12,000 years ago – first permanent
settlements & specialized occupations
appeared in Middle East
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
SYMBOLS
 ANYTHING THAT CARRIES A PARTICULAR
MEANING RECOGNIZED BY PEOPLE WHO
SHARE CULTURE.
 REALITY FOR HUMANS IS FOUND IN THE
MEANING THINGS CARRY WITH THEM.
 THE BASIS OF CULTURE; MAKES LIFE
POSSIBLE
 PEOPLE MUST BE MINDFUL THAT MEANINGS
VARY FROM CULTURE TO CULTURE.
 WHY AMERICANS ARE AT TIMES CALLED
“UGLY”
 MEANINGS CAN EVEN VARY GREATLY
WITHIN THE SAME GROUPS OF PEOPLE.
 FUR COATS, CONFEDERATE FLAGS, ETC.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
LANGUAGE
 A SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS
THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO
COMMUNICATE WITH ONE
ANOTHER.
 NON-VERBAL
LANGUAGE
 BEWARE OF USING
GESTURES

Nodding
 CULTURAL
TRANSMISSION
 The process by which one
generation passes
culture to the next.

Speech, writing, etc.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Discussion Questions
 What does
mean?
 How do you know?
 Do you think it means the same thing across the
world?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
SAPIR-WHORF THESIS
 Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf
argued - People perceive the world
through the cultural lens of
language.
 Argue that language shapes reality.
 Each language has words or
expressions not found in any other
symbolic system.
 Think about words that have negative
connotations in our language.
 Today, scholars argue against this
thesis.
 Ex. Children understand “family”
before learning the word.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Discussion Question
 Some argue the Sapir-Whorf thesis implies that
people have the power to change reality by changing
their symbols.
 Ex. What happened when people in the US started
using words like “African American” rather than
“Negro”?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
VALUES & BELIEFS
 VALUES
 CULTURALLY DEFINED STANDARDS OF DESIRABILITY,
GOODNESS, AND BEAUTY, WHICH SERVE AS BROAD GUIDELINES
FOR SOCIAL LIVING.
 LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES VALUE SURVIVAL.
 HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES VALUE INDIVIDUALISM AND SELFEXPRESSION.
VALUES SUPPORT BELIEFS
 BELIEFS
 SPECIFIC STATEMENTS THAT PEOPLE HOLD TO BE TRUE.
Women are
smarter than
men.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Freedom
Robin Williams’ 10 Widespread Values That
Are Central to Our American Way of Life
1. Equal opportunity
2. Achievement and success
3. Material comfort
4. Activity and work
5. Practicality and efficiency
6. Progress
7. Science
8. Democracy and free enterprise
9. Freedom
10. Racism and group superiority
Are some of these values inconsistent with one another?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
NORMS
 Rules and expectations by
which society guides the
behavior of its members.
 TYPES
 PROSCRIPTIVE
 Should nots, prohibited
 Acts we should avoid.
 PRESCRIPTIVE
 Shoulds, prescribed like medicine.
 Acts we should do.
 Sometimes the norm is universal in
a culture.
 Ex. Children should behave.
 Sometimes the situation
determines the norm.
 Ex. Applauding
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
NORMS: FURTHER
BREAKDOWN
 MORES
 Widely observed and have great moral
significance.
 Right vs. Wrong
 Taboos – strictly forbidden mores

Ex. Incest
 FOLKWAYS
 Norms for routine and causal
interaction.
 Right vs. Rude

Ex. Appropriate greetings, proper dress,
etc.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Does this 1916 ad violate
modern mores or folkways?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
SOCIAL CONTROL
 Various means by which
members of society
encourage conformity to
norms.
 GUILT
 A negative judgment we
make about ourselves.
 SHAME
 The painful sense that
others disapprove of our
actions.
 SANCTIONS
 Including rewards and
punishment. Sociology, Eleventh Edition
IDEAL VS. REAL CULTURE
 IDEAL CULTURE
 THE WAY THINGS
SHOULD BE.
 SOCIAL PATTERNS
MANDATED BY VALUES
AND NORMS.
 REAL CULTURE
 THE WAY THINGS
ACTUALLY OCCUR IN
EVERYDAY LIFE.
 SOCIAL PATTERNS
THAT ONLY
APPROXIMATE
CULTURAL
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
EXPECTATIONS.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Cultural Diversity
 High culture
 Cultural patterns that
distinguish a society’s elite.
 Popular culture
 Cultural patterns that are
widespread among society’s
population.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Cultural Diversity
 Subculture
 Cultural patterns set
apart some segment
of society’s
population.
 Counterculture
 Cultural patterns
that strongly oppose
those widely
accepted within a
society.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Discussion Question
 Should Hispanic children be taught
in Spanish or English in US
schools?
 Surveys suggest that 80% of
Hispanic parents favor English
instruction.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Discussion Question
 Is African American vernacular English a
language or a dialect?
 Some claim it would be considered a language if
its speakers had more power. What do you think?
 As linguist Max Weinreich says, “A language
is a dialect with an army and a navy.” What
does this statement mean?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Multiculturalism
 An educational
program recognizing
the cultural diversity of
the United States and
promoting the equality
of all cultural traditions.


Eurocentrism – the
dominance of European
(especially English)
cultural patterns.
Afrocentrism – the
dominance of African
cultural patterns.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
INTERDEPENDENCE
 CULTURAL INTEGRATION
 The close relationships among
various elements of a cultural
system.

EXAMPLE: COMPUTERS AND
CHANGES IN OUR LANGUAGE
 CULTURAL LAG
 The fact that some cultural
elements change more quickly
than others, which may disrupt a
cultural system.

EXAMPLE: MEDICAL PROCEDURES
AND ETHICS
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Discussion Question
 Cultural lag involves folkways as
well as mores.
 Is it rude to interrupt a lunchtime
chat in a restaurant to take a call
on a cell phone? Other examples?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
CULTURE CHANGES IN
THREE WAYS
 INVENTION - creating new cultural elements.
 Telephone or airplane
 DISCOVERY – recognizing and better understanding something
already in existence.
 X-rays or DNA
 CULTURAL DIFFUSION – the spread of cultural traits from one society
to another.
 Jazz music and much of the English language
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Theoretical Analysis
Structural Functional
 Explains culture as a complex
strategy for meeting human
needs.
 The stability of U.S. society
rests on core values shared by
most people.
 Cultural Universals – traits that
are part of every known culture
and include:
 Family, Funeral Rites & Jokes
 Critical evaluation
 Ignores cultural diversity and
downplays importance of
change.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Theoretical Analysis
Social-Conflict
 Stresses the link between culture
and inequality.
 Cultural traits benefit some
members at the expense of others.
 Approach rooted in Karl Marx and
materialism – society’s system of
material production has a powerful
effect on the rest of a culture.
 Critical evaluation
 Understates the ways cultural
patterns integrate members into
society.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Theoretical Analysis
Sociobiology
 A theoretical paradigm that explores ways
in which human biology affects how we
create culture.
 Points out that the sexual "double
standard" is found around the world.
 Why are men typically more
promiscuous?
 Why are women typically the one who
cares for the infant?
 Approach rooted in Charles Darwin and
evolution – living organisms change over
long periods of time based on natural
selection .
 Critical evaluation
 May be used to support racism or sexism.
 Little evidence to support theory, people
learn behavior within a cultural system.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Freedom vs. Constraint
 Culture as constraint
 We only know our world in
terms of our culture.
 Our culture creates
alienation.
 Culture as freedom
 Culture is changing and
offers a variety of
opportunities.
 We aren’t limited to
biology.
Sociology, Eleventh Edition
Discussion Question
 In 1997, two Iraqi brothers, ages 34 &
28, were charged under Nebraska law
with the statutory rape of their wives,
ages 13 & 14, whom they married
according to Muslim law and the
customs of their native southern Iraq.
 Were the charges appropriate or
ethnocentric?
Sociology, Eleventh Edition