Slide 1 Richard T. Schaefer 1 st Edition Slide 1 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. chapter three Sociology in Modules Culture

Slide 2 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Module 9: What Is Culture? Module 10: Development of Culture around the WorldModule 10: Development of Culture around the World Module 11: Cultural Variation Module 12: Elements of Culture Culture 3

Slide 3 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. █ How basic is the study of culture to sociology? A Look Ahead █ What general cultural practices are found in all societies and what variations distinguish one society from another? █ What are the major aspects of culture? █ How do cultures develop a dominant ideology, and how do functionalists and conflict theorists view culture?

Slide 4 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. What Is Culture? █ Culture: Totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior –Culture includes ideas, values, customs, and artifacts of groups of people Module 9

Slide 5 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Culture and Society █ Society: Large number of people who live in same territory, who are relatively independent of people outside that area, and who participate in a common culture –Common culture simplifies day-to-day interactions –Adorno: worldwide culture industry limits people choices Module 9

Slide 6 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Universals █ Cultural Universal: certain common practices and beliefs that all societies have developed –Many are adaptations to meet essential human needs –Murdoch compiled list of cultural universals but they are expressed differently from culture to culture Module 9

Slide 7 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism █ Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to others –Conflict theorists: ethnocentric value judgments serve to devalue groups and to deny equal opportunities –Functionalists: ethnocentrism maintains sense of solidarity Module 9

Slide 8 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. –Different social contexts give rise to different norms and values Cultural Relativism █ Cultural relativism: People’s behaviors from the perspective of their own culture Module 9

Slide 9 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociobiology and Culture █ Sociobiology: Systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior –Founded on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution –Sociobiologists assert that many cultural traits rooted in genetic makeup Module 9

Slide 10 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. –How would you react if you were taken from your parents’ home by a government agent and moved to a different family with a different culture? –What might be the long-term consequences of American Indian children’s removal from their families, besides the destruction of their culture? Sociology in the Global Community █ Cultural Genocide Module 9

Slide 11 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 9-1: Countries with High Child Marriage Rates Module 9

Slide 12 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Development of Culture around the World █ Innovation: process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture –Discovery: Making known or sharing existence of an aspect of reality –Invention: Existing cultural items combined into form that did not exist before Module 10

Slide 13 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology █ Diffusion: Process by which cultural item spreads from group to group –McDonaldization: Process through which principles of fast-food industry dominate certain sectors of society –Technology: Information about how to use material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires (Nolan and Lenski ) Module 10

Slide 14 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. █ Material culture: Physical or technological aspects of daily lives Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology –Food items –Houses –Factories –Raw materials –Customs –Beliefs –Philosophies –Governments –Patterns of communication █ Nonmaterial culture: Ways of using material objects as well as: Module 10

Slide 15 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology █ Culture lag: Period of maladjustment when nonmaterial culture struggles to adapt to new material conditions Module 10

Slide 16 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociology in the Global Community █ Life in the Global Village –Which aspects of globalization do you find advantageous and which objectionable? –How would you feel if the customs and traditions you grew up with were replaced by the culture or values of another country? Module 10

Slide 17 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociology in the Global Community █ Cultural Survival in Brazil –Compare the frontier in Brazil today to the American West in the 1800s. What similarities do you see? –What does society lose when indigenous cultures die? Module 10

Slide 18 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Variation █ Subculture: Segment of society that shares distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from larger society Argot: Specialized language that distinguishes a subculture from the wider society Module 11

Slide 19 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Variation █ Counterculture: Subculture that conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture █ Culture shock: Feeling disoriented, uncertain, out of place, or fearful when immersed in an unfamiliar culture Module 11

Slide 20 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Language: Written and Spoken █ Language: Abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture –Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Language precedes thought Language is not a given Language is culturally determined Language may color how we see the world Module 12

Slide 21 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Nonverbal Communication █ Nonverbal communication: Use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate –Learned –Differs by cultures –Symbols: gestures, objects, and words that form basis of human communication Module 12

Slide 22 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 12-1: A Timeless Alert Module 12

Slide 23 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. –Formal norms: Generally written; specify strict punishments –Law: government social control –Informal norms: Generally understood but not precisely recorded Norms and Values █ Norms: Established standards of behavior maintained by a society Module 12

Slide 24 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. █ Folkways: Norms governing everyday behavior –In many societies, folkways exist to reinforce patterns of male dominance Types of Norms █ Mores: Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society Module 12

Slide 25 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. –Behavior that appears to violate society’s norms may represent adherence to a particular group’s norms –Norms may be violated because they conflict with other norms –Acceptance of norms is subject to change Acceptance of Norms █ People do not follow norms in all situations Module 12

Slide 26 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sanctions █ Sanctions: Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning social norm –Positive sanctions: Pay raises, medals, and words of gratitude –Negative sanctions: Fines, threats, imprisonment, and stares of contempt Module 12

Slide 27 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Table 12-1: Norms and Sanctions Module 12

Slide 28 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Table 12-2: Sociological Perspectives on Culture Module 12

Slide 29 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Values █ Cultural values: Collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper – or bad, undesirable, and improper Influence people’s behavior Criteria for evaluating actions of others Values may change Module 12

Slide 30 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 12-2: Life Goals of First-Year College Students in the United States, Module 12

Slide 31 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 12-3: Torture Values by Country Module 12

Slide 32 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Global Culture War █ Culture war: Polarization of society over controversial cultural elements In 1990s, referred to political debates over abortion, religious expression, gun control, and sexual orientation Took on global meaning, especially after 9/11 Module 12

Slide 33 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociology on Campus █ A Culture of Cheating? –Do you know anyone who has engaged in Internet plagiarism? What about cheating on tests or falsifying laboratory results? –Even if cheaters are not caught, what negative effect does their academic dishonesty have on them. What effects does it have on honest students? Module 12

Slide 34 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Case Study: Culture at Wal-Mart █ Wal-Mart is one of the largest corporations in the world –Opponents criticize its low pay rates, lack of health care, lack of commitment to equal opportunity, and its negative impact on smaller retailers –Mistakes made in Germany and South Korea Module 12

Slide 35 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Bilingualism █ Looking at the Issue –Bilingualism: Use of two or more languages in a particular setting –Bilingual education may instruct children in their native language while gradually introducing the language of the host society Module 12

Slide 36 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Bilingualism █ Looking at the Issue –Bureau of the Census: about 19% of population spoke a language other than English as their primary language at home in 2008 –Bilingual programs vary widely so difficult to measure their success Module 12

Slide 37 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Bilingualism █ Applying Sociology –For long time, people in U. S. demanded conformity to a single language –Recent decades have seen challenges to pattern of forced obedience to the dominant ideology –Often ignore fact that Bilingual education programs may have beneficial results Module 12

Slide 38 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Bilingualism █ Initiating Policy –Bilingualism has policy implications in efforts to maintain language purity and programs to enhance bilingual education –Nations vary dramatically in tolerance Public concern over potential decline in use of English appears to be overblown Module 12

Slide 39 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 12-4: Percentage of People who Speak a Language other than English at Home, by State Module 12

Slide 40 © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 12-5: Proportion of Immigrant Group Members in Southern California who Speak the Mother Tongue, by Generation Module 12