1. Unit 1: Culture and Social Culture
Chapter 3:
Cultural Conformity and Adaptation

2. 1770’s Important Virtues According to Ben Franklin Pg 43
How many of you agree that these virtues are important?
How many of you embody some of these virtues?
What do you think are core American values today?

3. Sec 1: The American Value System
Robin M. Williams’ study American Society analyzed American values.
He identified 15 that are central to the American way of life.
Ex:
Personal achievement, individualism, work, morality and humanitarianism, efficiency and practicality, progress and material comfort, equality and democracy, and freedom

4. Let’s talk about these! Personal achievement individualism work
morality and humanitarianism
efficiency and practicality
progress and material comfort
equality and democracy
freedom

5. Other Core American Values
Williams also identified:
Nationalism and patriotism, science and rationality, and racial and group superiority.
What about:
Education, religious values, romantic love
Do we all agree about what should be an American value?

6. Newly identified American values:
Leisure, personal fitness, youthfulness
Self-fulfillment
A commitment to the full development of one’s personality, talents, and potential.
Seen in self-help and human-potential movement
Seminars, TV programs, Dr. Phil, Health Clubs, Diet Programs

7. Problems with self-fulfillment:
Narcissism – social historian Christopher Lasch
Means extreme self-centeredness
What do you think? Is self-fulfillment dangerous to our other values?
Other trends towards new values:
Environment… how?
Can you think of any others?

8. Case Study Advertisements
How do advertisements promote American Values?

9. Assignment: Can work together!
Create an ad (for anything) promoting not only the product but American values as well.

10. Section 2: Social Control
For society to run smoothly, some norms must be upheld.
Two ways norms are upheld:
Internalization
Sanctions

11. Internalization of Norms
People come to believe that a particular norm is good, useful, and appropriate, they generally follow it and expect others to do the same.
They have internalized it:
The process by which a norm becomes part of an individual’s personality…conditions the individual to conform to society’s expectations.
Think of any???
Traffic light red, you stop

12. Sanctions
Many people follow norms without thinking about it… but not everyone internalizes.
Some people are motivated by sanctions.
Sanctions:
Rewards or punishments to enforce conformity to norms.
Positive, negative, formal, and informal

13. Positive Negative Sanctions Sanctions
An action that rewards a particular kind of behavior.
Encouraging conformity
Ex: parents praising kid for good behavior
Ex: teacher giving good grade for work turned in on time
Ex: ceremonies, ribbons, awards, etc.
If not reinforced, loses effectiveness
Used to discourage undesired behavior.
Punishment or threat of punishment used to enforce conformity.
Ex: “your car will be towed”… I won’t park there
Ex: frowns, ridicule, rejection, fines, imprisonment, etc.

14. Formal Informal Sanctions Sanctions
Reward or punishment given by a formal organization or regulatory agency (school, business, gov’t).
Negative – low grades, suspension, being fired, imprisonment.
Positive – pay raises, diplomas, promotion, etc.
Spontaneous expression of approval or disapproval given by an individual or a group.
Positive – standing ovations, compliments, smiles, gifts, etc.
Negative – frowns, gossips, insults, ostracism.
Effective among teens b/c social acceptance is so important.

15. Laws Rules that are enforced and sanctioned by the gov’t.
May or may not be norms
Very often, important mores (strong moral connections) of society become laws and are enforced by agencies of the government.
If laws cease to be supported by norms and values, they are usually stricken or not enforced.
Any historical examples?
Not all laws are supported by the public; in fact, many have come into existence as the result of lobbying by powerful interest groups.

16. Laws (cont.)
Laws requiring the wearing of seat belts, for example, are not a response to social norms, but rather from insurance companies.
Laws regulating marijuana use in the US owe their origins to lobbying by the liquor industry.
In these cases, laws are trying to create norms rather than respond to them.

17. Laws
Not all laws represent the norms of all people in a particular society.
This is why laws will continue to change, because society continues to change.
Political involvement plug

18. In class assignment! Get with one or two buddies
Compile a list of ten laws that you think are the absolute most important laws ever!
Come up with three laws that should be done away with
You have 10 minutes
We will share these as a class

19. What is the most severe sanction our nation uses?
Capital Punishment
Let’s talk about that!

20. Social control
Def: The enforcing of norms through either internal or external means
Need self-control…learned through internalization of norms
Many agents of social control perform external enforcement through the use of sanctions.
Ex: police, court system, religion, family, public opinion
What would happen if people did not follow rules of behavior and norms?

21. Section 3: Social Change
The more cultural traits you have, the more potential for change.
EX: The emergence of the car in America
Provided new form of transportation, employment, and affected how people shopped, where they lived, and what they did with leisure time.
Modern world changes each week:
New material goods, styles of dress, ways of doing things, and ideas
Six factors stimulate social change:
Values and beliefs, technology, population, diffusion, the physical environment, & wars and conquests

22. Values & Beliefs: Factors of Social Change
Ideology:
System of beliefs or ideas that justifies the social, moral, religious, political or economic interests held by a group or by society.
Often spread through social movements:
Long-term conscious effort to promote or prevent social change.
Involve large numbers of people
Ex: Prohibition, women’s rights, civil rights, gay rights, environmental movement, etc.
Ex: did the civil rights movement change politics?
What social movement would you join, or start, today?

23. Technology: As a factor of social change
Knowledge and tools that people use to manipulate their environment.
New technology arises in two ways:
Discovery
When people recognize new uses for existing elements in the world or begin to understand them in new ways
Invention
When people use existing knowledge to create something that did not previously exists.
Material and nonmaterial inventions

24. Population: As a factor of social change
Since the 1900’s, our population has risen rapidly.
New people, new culture, new ideas
Cultural diffusion – what do you eat for dinner?
Affects the economy:
Increasing population
More demand for foods and services, increase employment and stimulate economy
Crowded conditions
More energy, food, housing, schools, stores, transport
Declining pop
Need fewer goods and services, limited employment
What is the average age?

25. Diffusion: As a factor of social change
Process of spreading culture traits from one society to another
Why does more diffusion take place today than 100 years ago?
Some cultural traits spread more rapidly than others:
Material culture and technology (examples?)
Reformulation – the process of adapting borrowed cultural traits (pg. 57 Sesame Street)
Read Case Study pg 59

26. The Physical Environment: As a factor of social change
Our environment provides conditions that may encourage or discourage cultural change.
Some foods only grow locally, some people import lots of things, etc.
Natural disasters – how do these bring about change?
Change in natural resources supply
Ex: our shortages in oil… how is that changing our society?

27. Wars & Conquests: As factors of social change
Not as common as other factors, but bring about the greatest change in the least amount of time.
Loss of life, destruction of property, rise of new cities, changes to economy to focus on war industry

28. Resistance to Change: “There is comfort in consistency.”
Believe it or not… some people don’t like change
Social changes often result from a compromise b/t opposing forces.
After a while some will accept a change they initially opposed or some may accept the idea but never adapt
Reasons people resist cultural change:
Ethnocentrism, cultural lag, and vested interests

29. Resisting change: Ethnocentrism
Change that comes from outside a society often meets with really strong resistance
People think their way, is the best way…same with their culture
Ex: “Buy American” campaign in 1970’s and 80’s
Targeted Japanese cars

30. Resisting change: Cultural Lag
When a cultural trait takes a while to change
Material culture changes quicker than nonmaterial culture.
EX: technological change often results in cultural lag
TV change coming in Feb; lap tops in the classroom
Ex: school year
1800’s schools needed long summer breaks so kids could work on farms.
So, who spent their summer plowing, planting, milking, etc.
Why not stop having summer?
Cherokee county, Save our Summers com.

31. Resisting change: Vested Interest
If a person likes the way things are, they will likely resist change
Some people feel the present is better than the future
They want to protect their life
They have a vested interest in that
Ex: Some workers may dislike new machines b/c it could take their job
Politicians