Culture and Sociology
What culture are you a part of? Culture: Knowledge, values, customs, and physical objects that are shared by members of a society. Material: physical objects such as fast food restaurants, cell phones, cars. Non material: Beliefs, rules, family systems, capitalist economy. Norms: rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior Ex: Waiting your turn in line. Paying for a shirt
Why is what you just saw considered taboo Why is what you just saw considered taboo? Are we justified in thinking that it is?
Three Types of Norms Folkways: norms that lack moral significance. Ex: Sleeping in a bed Not as serious if you break these. Mores: norms that have moral dimensions and that should be followed by members of the society. Norms of great moral significance Conformity to mores is a social requirement. Taboo: Norms so strong that violation demands punishment. Ex: Incest
Law and Sanctions Law: norms that are formally defined and enforced by officials. Sanctions: Rewards and punishments used to encourage conformity to norm Formal Sanctions: may be applied only by official designated persons such as judges, police officers, and teachers Informal Sanctions: Sanctions that can be applied by most members of a group. Ex: Thanking someone for helping you up after falling. Giving someone a dirty look for talking obnoxiously.
Often viewed as “scary” or “revolutionary”. Goths Punks Hippies Subculture: Segment of society that shares a distinctive patters of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society. Often have their own language and customs. Still part of the dominant culture. San Francisco’s Chinatown High Schoolers Circus People Musicians New Yorkers Counterculture is a subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture. Often viewed as “scary” or “revolutionary”. Goths Punks Hippies Terrorists Amish
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf: Language is our guide to reality Perceptions of the world depend in part on the particular language we have learned. Languages differ= perceptions differ. When something is important to a society = many words in the language to describe it. Ex: Time, God, Money
Globalization Globalization: Worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and exchange of ideas. Process in which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together. Some view it as the United States dominance of world affairs. McDonaldization: the melding of cultures through which we see more and more similarities in cultural expression. Ex: Starbucks in Hong Kong and McDonald’s in Austria. Critics say it dilutes the distinctive aspects of a society’s culture.
What do all cultures have? Cultural Universals: All societies have developed certain practices or beliefs. Adaptations to meet essential human needs. Ex. Food, shelter, Clothing. List: Athletic Sports Cooking Funeral Ceremonies Medicine Marriage Sexual Restrictions
Is one culture better than the other? Ethnocentrism: To refer to the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others. Values: Collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper—or bad, undesirable, and improper—in a culture. Indicate what people in a given culture prefer as well as what they find important and morally right or wrong.
What are some defining characteristics of the American culture?
American Values Equal Opportunity and Individualism Progress Morality and Humanitarianism Achievement and Success Democracy and Free Enterprise Material Comfort Activity and work Freedom Practicality and Efficiency Racism and group superiority.