1. Culture

2. What is culture?
It consists of all the shared products of human groups
Material Culture  physical objects created by human groups, also known as artifacts
Nonmaterial Culture  abstract human creations such as language, ideas, beliefs, rules, skills, family patterns, work practices, and political and economic systems

3. Culture vs. Society
Culture knowledge, values, customs, and physical objects that are shared by members of a society
Material Culture & Non-material Culture
Society a specific territory inhabited by people who share a common culture
Society = people
Culture = products people make

4. Culture vs. Instinct
Why is culture more important than instinct in determining human behavior?
Instincts  innate (unlearned) patterns of behavior
Reflexes  automatic reaction to physical stimulus
Drives  impulse to reduce discomfort

5. Sociobiology The study of the biological basis of human behavior
How do sociobiologists view human behavior?
What might be some criticisms of sociobiology?
Is there a middle ground?

6. Components of Culture Symbols Language Values
Norms (folkways, mores, taboos, laws)

7. Cultural Universals
Cultural Universals – general cultural traits that exist in all cultures
Why do cultural universals exists?
Examples?

8. Breaking it down… Food Ethnic Language Tradition Religion
Entertainment
Clothing
Ethnic
Tradition
Standard of Living
Government
Education

9. Cultural Universals Economy Clothing, Food, Shelter, Communications,
Researchers have identified more than 70 traits in all cultures
Economy
Clothing, Food, Shelter, Communications,
Transportation, Business, Jobs, Services, Goods,
Technology, Tools, Trade
Institutions
Economy, Religion, Education, Government, Family
Arts
Folk Tales, Crafts, Music, Theater, Dance, Literature,
Art
Language
Words, Expressions, Pronunciations, Alphabet,
Symbols
Environment
Communities, Geography, Geology, Habitat, Wildlife,
Climates, Resources
Recreation
Games, Toys, Arts, Media, Holidays, Festivals
Beliefs
Values, Traditions, Ethnicity, Customs, Religions,
Morals

10. Components of Culture:
Symbols & Language

11. Symbols What are symbols?
Symbols are something that stands for or represents something else
Examples?

12. Language & Culture The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
What can vocabulary tell you about a culture?
Does the hypothesis of linguistic relativity mean we are prisoners of our language?
What other factors help us shape our perception of reality?

13. Norms: The Rules We Live By
Norms  rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior
William Graham Sumner stated that anything can be considered appropriate when norms approve of it
Examples of cultural etiquette from the projects

14. Taboo: Tattoo Video
Cultural Universals  general cultural traits that exist in all cultures
Cultural Relativism  principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture
Taboos  A norm that society holds so strongly that violating it results in extreme disgust

15. Components of Culture:
Values & Beliefs

16. Values & Beliefs Beliefs  ideas about the nature of reality
Values  shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable
Why do beliefs matter in a society? Values?

17. Values & Beliefs
Do we have a set of values and/or beliefs in America? Examples?

18. Ideal Culture vs. Real Culture
Ideal Culture  Cultural guidelines that group members claim to accept
Real Culture  Actual behavior of members of a group

19. American Values: Sociologist Robin Williams
Achievement and success
Individualism
Activity and work
Practicality and efficiency
Science and rationality
Progress
Material Comfort
Equality
Freedom
Democracy
Humanitarianism
Racism and group superiority

20. American Values Added in 1975 Recently Added Values Education Religion
Romantic Love & Monogamy
Leisure
Physical Fitness (Health)
Self-Fulfillment
Environment
Safety/Personal Security

21. Components of Culture:
Norms

22. Norms Review Rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior
Specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation
They are the agreed-upon expectations and rules by which the members of a culture behave
Norms can be broken down into FOUR categories

23. Folkways Often referred to as "customs”
Standards of behavior that are socially approved but not morally significant
They are norms for everyday behavior that people follow for the sake of tradition or convenience
Breaking a folkway does not usually have serious consequences

24. Mores Strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior
Mores are norms based on definitions of right and wrong
Unlike folkways, mores are morally significant
People feel strongly about them and violating them typically results in disapproval

25. Taboos
A norm that society holds so strongly that violating it results in extreme disgust
Often times the violator of the taboo is considered unfit to live in that society

26. Laws
A law is a norm that is written down and enforced by an official law enforcement agency

27. Enforcing the Norm: Sanctions
**See Social Control Notes**

28. Cultural Diversity & Similarity

29. Cultural Diversity
Social Categories  groupings of persons who share social characteristics
Subculture – a group that is part of the dominant culture but that differs from it in some important respects
Counterculture – a subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture

30. Ethnocentrism Judging others in terms of one’s own cultural standards
Examples?
Does ethnocentrism help or hurt society?

31. Cultural Universals
Cultural Universals – general cultural traits that exist in all cultures
How are these cultural universals expressed?
Cultural particulars  the ways in which a culture expresses universal traits
Why do cultural universals exists?

32. Cultural Universals Economy Clothing, Food, Shelter, Communications,
Researchers have identified more than 70 traits in all cultures
Economy
Clothing, Food, Shelter, Communications,
Transportation, Business, Jobs, Services, Goods,
Technology, Tools, Trade
Institutions
Economy, Religion, Education, Government, Family
Arts
Folk Tales, Crafts, Music, Theater, Dance, Literature,
Art
Language
Words, Expressions, Pronunciations, Alphabet,
Symbols
Environment
Communities, Geography, Geology, Habitat, Wildlife,
Climates, Resources
Recreation
Games, Toys, Arts, Media, Holidays, Festivals
Beliefs
Values, Traditions, Ethnicity, Customs, Religions,
Morals

33. Social Change

34. Social Change
**See Social Change Notes**