1. Really……who are we?
Elements of Culture

2. Five common components
Symbols
Language
Values
Norm
Technology (Ideal vs real culture)

3. Symbols
Defined as anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture.
Varies from:
Society to society
Within a single society
Over time

4. Examples A word A whistle Wall of graffiti Flashing red light
Raised fist

5. Significant symbols…….
The burning of the American flag during a political demonstration
Fur coat – symbol of wealth or a symbol of cruelty?
Confederate Flag – oppression or freedom?

6. Language
System of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another
Key to cultural transmission – process by which one generation passes culture to the next
Usually through oral tradition
Only humans can create systems of symbols but other animals do have the ability to use symbols to communicate.
Sapir-Whorf thesis – holds that people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language.

7. Current thinking
Language is not the ONLY key to understanding
Children “know” the idea of family before learning the word
Adults can imagine things before the “name” is created

8. Values
Culturally defined as standards by which people judge desirability, goodness and beauty
These serve as guidelines for social living
Broad principles that underlie beliefs – specific statements that people hold to be true
Robin Williams – Ten Key Values of US Culture (See separate Handout)
Values within one society are frequently inconsistent and even opposed to one another

9. The “New Culture of Victimization” – Americans may be becoming increasingly unwilling to accept personal responsibility for their failings and misfortunes. Pgs 70 – 71 Thinking Critically Questions: #1 – 3 Discuss

10. Values as a Global Perspective
Lower-income nations Values based on Survival Physical safety and economic security Tend to be traditional Celebration of the past Emphasize family/religion Dominated by men
Higher – income nations
Values based on individualism & self-expression
Concentrate on developing a high quality of life
How to achieve the greatest personal happiness
Less emphasis on family/religion
More on tolerance
Women/men = more equal

11. Norms
Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members
Either proscriptive or prescriptive
William Graham Sumner
Two types:
Mores – norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance
Folkways – norms for routine, casual interaction
Sanctions: Central mechanism of social control (various means by which members of society encourage conformity to norms).

12. Norms…….. Proscriptive Prescriptive Stating what we should NOT do
Warnings……
Stating what we should do
Guidelines…….

13. “People are the only animals that blush - or need to.” Mark Twain
Mores and Folkways………………
Basic rules of everyday life
Sometimes resisted
Makes life “orderly” and “predictable”
“Breaking the Norm” leads to either reward or punishment
“Doing wrong” – causes shame and guilt (Ex: Cheating)
Shame – the painful sense that others disapprove of our actions
Guilt – a negative judgment we make of ourselves

14. Mores and folkways.......... Mores Folkways Norms that are widely used
Great moral influence
Taboos
Distinguish between right and wrong
Norms for routine or casual interaction
Appropriate greetings
Proper dress
Draw a line between right and rude

15. When and where are norms appropriate?
What do parents expect from their children – no matter where they are…..Home? School? Restaurant? Friend’s house?
What do we do at the end of a performance as audience members?
What do we at the end of a religious sermon?
What other “norms” do we follow and when?

16. Values, rules and sanctions create the following social atmosphere
Ultimately…….
Values, rules and sanctions create the following social atmosphere

17. Social Control is best achieved when all groups to which we belong reinforce each other.

18. The principal means of social control is self- control.
Self-control is learned through the internalization of norms.
Internalization is the process by which a norm becomes a part of an individual’s personality, thereby making the individual automatically conform to society’s expectations.

19. In reality, the only rule a society needs is the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.”

20. “Do as I say, not as I do” Ideal vs Real Culture
Ideal culture – social patterns mandated by cultural values and norms
Real culture – actual social patterns that only approximate cultural expectations
Material culture – reflects a society’s values and a society’s technology (knowledge that people apply to the task of living in their surroundings

21. Material Culture
Artifacts – utensils certain cultures eat with; how people sit/sleep; clothing
These may seem strange to “outsiders”

22. Technology
Knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings
More complex = more ability to shape the world around you
The complex transportation system helps connect our world which leads to more cars/trucks/etc ………………………
Which leads to more poisoning of the atmosphere and global warming

23. Simple technology = Simple lives
Cultures that attach importance to science tend to overlook other more simpler cultures.
Sometimes – the statement above is true
But other times – the simpler the better
More technology could lead to bigger problems.
“More money, more problems”
Some people reject these ideas on principle or it’s a luxury that cannot be afforded
New cultures are being created