1. Culture (More Stuff) Culture 2 1/31/2011
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective. Prof. Backman. ppt_culture_2

2. Review
Tradition!

3. Thomas Theorem
Def of situation
Remem- bered norm
Behavior

4. Relationship Between Cultural Values and Norms
Culture 2
1/31/2011
Relationship Between Cultural Values and Norms
Norms often are specific reflections of abstract values
We value friendship; we acknowledge our friends
Norms can tell how to handle conflicting values
How much to contribute to church, United Way
Q: What values are involved here?
Recall: cultural values relatively abstract and general; norms relatively specific
Amazon group with communalism as a value
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective. Prof. Backman. ppt_culture_2

5. Technical norms Some norms may have no direct link to values
Culture 2
1/31/2011
Technical norms
Some norms may have no direct link to values
Some reflect value of having standards
Reduces uncertainty
Where is the cold water?
Which foot leads off in a parade?
Who is 110, who is 220
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective. Prof. Backman. ppt_culture_2

6. Ideal vs Real Culture I
Ideal culture -- what people and institutions should do, according to cultural norms and values
Real culture -- what people and institutions actually do
Ideal and real cultures are usually not the same

7. Ideal vs Real Culture II
Tension between ideal and real can lead to changes in either or both
Similar phenomena occur in settings smaller than entire cultures
informal vs formal structures in organizations
Secularization/revival in religious denominations
theory vs practice in general

8. Secularization and Revival
Successful churches over time tend to get involved in non-spiritual issues
Property, training and supervising employees, fund raising
Secularization
Loss of spiritual focus can lead to revival movements
Trying to restore spiritual focus

9. Culture and Predictability
Culture helps make social world predictable
We have psychological need for predictability
If we want something, culture tells how to get it
When others are doing wild stuff, culture can help explain

10. Predictability and Norm Following
The more we follow norms, the more predictable our world
If we are unpredictable, others don’t know what to think or do
If we follow rules, others know what we are doing and what they should do
This, therefore, is another reason we follow the rules: doing so makes our world more predictable

11. Social Institutions
Social Institutions: relatively permanent patterns or clusters of specialized roles, groups, organizations, customs, and activities devoted to meeting fundamental social needs (Stark 8th: 669)
Like parts of the body

12. Social Institutions II
Institutions themselves can often be analyzed as being composed of smaller institutions
Institutions have multiple outcomes. Different institutions often overlap in their outcomes
Social problems often revolve around difficulties institutions are having in producing expected outcomes

13. Major Social Institutions
Family
Economy
Religion
Political Order
Education
Others: medicine, military, arts, sports/recreation, holidays, Super Bowl

14. Culture 2
1/31/2011
More Culture Terms
High culture- set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture
Cultural Lag- a situation when one institution has not adapted to changes in another
Cultural Universals- patterns found in all known societies
High culture def from Wikipedia
SOCY1000 Sociology Global Perspective. Prof. Backman. ppt_culture_2