1. Understanding Culture

2. CULTURE All shared products of human groups
Includes values, material artifacts, and rules of behavior
They are not a result of biological inheritance

3. Cultural Universals
Features that all societies must develop to ensure they fulfill their needs
George Murdoch
Identified 65 cultural universals
Included family, cooking, government, economy, medicine, tool making, funeral rights, religious rituals, sports, dance, arts, games, music
Cultures might differ in the way they show these traits.
Ex. All cultures have families in order to care for young children, but the makeup of the family varies among different cultures.

4. Culture includes…… Technology Language Religion Food
Aesthetics (art, music, architecture)
Values, ideas
Norms
Gender roles
Recreational Activities
Commercial Practices
Social Structure

5. Material vs. Nonmaterial Culture
Physical Objects
Books
Buildings
Clothing
Abstract human creations
Beliefs
Ideas
Language
Economic and Political System

6. How do changes in material culture give rise to changes in nonmaterial culture?

7. One Culture, Many Cultures
We are born into different cultures
Family
Neighborhood
Church
School
City
Country
Global Culture

8. Society is not Culture
Society: the group of people that share a common culture
Society = people
Culture = what these people produce and use together

9. How do we learn culture?
Socialization is the process by which we learn culture
Through Media
Through People we meet at school and work
More importantly, at home (primary group)
Who are the agents of socialization?
When do we start learning?

10. Socialization and Cooperation in Animals – Moral Behavior
Time: 3:20
Time 12:35

11. Who socializes us? Primary Groups
Small Groups in which relations are regular, face-to-face, and personal; they play the most significant role in socialization
Family Members
Best Friends
Closest Co-workers
Secondary Groups
Larger and more impersonal; interaction is not as regular, and is usually undertaken to achieve specific goals.

12. What do we learn?

13. Symbols – Anything that represents something else
Symbols – Anything that represents something else. It has a shared meaning.

14. SYMBOLS

15. More on Symbols Symbols occur in different forms:
Words (hello)
Events (church service, pre-game chant)
Physical object (class ring)
Gestures (handshake)
Images (team logo)
What’s the hidden meaning behind each of those symbols?

16. What’s the symbolism behind this pre-game huddle?

17. Language

18. Language
System of communication using vocal and written symbols that have common meanings among all members of a group
Important source of continuity and identity in a culture
Around 6,000 to 7,000 languages in the world today
Between 50% and 90% of languages will disappear in the year 2100

19. Language in Sports Hit below the belt act unfairly Hail Mary
a long shot, a desperate last minute attempt
Hands Down
in horse racing when the jockey wins and drops his hands, relaxing
Drop the towel
give up
Lightweight
of little importance

20. Language in Sports

21. What do we learn?
Values: Socially created ideas (social constructions) about what is desirable and what is not desirable.

22. Core American Values
In 1970 Robin Williams identified core American Values:
Personal Achievement and Success
Material Comfort
Activity and Work
Individualism
Practicality and Efficiency
Morality and Humanitarism
Progress
Equality and Democracy
Freedom

23. New Values in the United States
Self-fulfillment: commitment to the full development one’s personality, talents, and potential. Examples include:
Leisure
Physical Fitness
Youthfulness
Concern for the Environment
Sometimes opposes another value, progress

24. What do we learn? Norms: commonly accepted expectations for behavior in society

25. Breaking norms

26. Two Types of Norms Folkways Mores
Describe socially accepted behavior but do not have great moral significance
Common customs of everyday life
Failure to follow will result in reprimand or minor punishment
Ex. Shake hands when introduced to someone
Great moral significance
Violation of them endangers society’s stability
Ex. Do not kill another person
Laws are usually created to protect society. For example, severe punishment for those who commit murder

27. Ideal Culture vs. Real Culture
Ideal Culture: Values that a society professes
College students should not drink alcohol
Real Culture: Values that a society actually acts on
Drinking is part of the college experience
Can you think of other examples?

28. Subculture
Values, practices, and other cultural elements are shared by a minority of people within a larger society.
Common subcultures: Military, police, teachers
Subcultures within your own family (ex. Brothers)
Some may seem odd (ex. Emo subculture)
Freerunners:

29. Countercultures
A group rejecting the major values, norms, and practices of the larger society
Replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns
Ex. Hippie movements of the 1960s

30. The End