Culture
F A
system of knowledge, belief, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that are
acquired, shared, and used by members during daily living.
19th-Century Definition of Culture
F Culture was commonly used as a synonym for
Western Civilization.
F Western cultures were considered superior.
Today’s
Definition of Culture
F
A
community à to be self-sustaining.
F A group’s thought, experiences, patterns of
behavior, values and assumptions.
F
A
process of social transmission.
F
Members
who consciously identify themselves
- Symbols: Anything that has been given representational meaning by the members of a cultural group. Examples: Gestures, a flag, a statue.
- Language: A system of patterned sounds, often with
corresponding written symbols, that the members of a society use to
communicate their thoughts and feelings to one another. Examples: Swahili,
English.
- Values: Cultural standards or judgments of what is
right, good, or desirable. Examples: Personal freedom, egalitarianism.
- Norms: The rules of culture that tell the members
of a culture how they are expected to behave in a given situation.
Examples: Not talking out loud during a play, wearing black clothes to a
funeral.
- Mores: Norms that carry a strong social sanction if
violated because the members of a culture consider adherence to them
essential to the well-being of the society. Examples: The prohibition
against having sex in public, the prohibition against destroying other people's
property.
- Folkways: Norms that carry only a weak social
sanction if violated because the members of the society do not consider
adherence to them essential to the well-being of the society. Examples:
Washing one's clothes, eating with your mouth closed.
- Laws: Norms that the governing body of a society
officially adopts to regulate behavior. Examples: Speed limits, not having
sex with someone against their will (rape).
- Taboos: Norms so strongly held by the members of a
society that to violate them is virtually inconceivable. Examples: The
prohibition against incest, the prohibition against cannibalism.
- Technology: The body of knowledge that members of a
society apply to their physical environment to meet their survival needs.
Examples: Using a digging stick to plant seeds, using a robot to paint a
car.
- Artifacts: The physical things that the members of
a society make when they apply their technology to the physical
environment. Examples: A bed, a hammer, a bracelet, a house.
Cultures
Within Cultures
F Subculture: is a group of people with
a culture
(whether distinct or hidden) which differentiates them from the larger culture
to which they belong.
F Co-culture: is a group of people who
different in some ethnic or sociological way from the parents’ culture.
F Subgroup: exist within dominant culture and
are dependent on that culture.
Rules and
Norms
F Rule: sosially agreed-on behavior
F Norm: appropriate and inappropriate behavior
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