Culture Notes - From Sociology

Culture

Culture: refers to societal beliefs, values, behaviors, characteristics, and shared symbols that individuals learn as members of a society.

A. Components of Culture:

1. materials: tangible objects that reflect the nature of society; serve as a buffer between
humans and the environment (ex: food, clothes, technology)

2. normative/non-material: the intangible aspects of culture that include knowledge, beliefs, values, norms

Beliefs: ideas that are relatively subjective, unreliable and unverifiable

Values: socially shared ideas about what is good, desirable, or important; general principles that support the norms of society.

Norms: derived from values, social rules that specify how people should behave; provides conformity and produces shared expectation.

Components of norms:

1. Folkways- norms that have little moral significance; “weak norms” that specify expectations about appropriate behaviors (ex: smiling, smirking)

2. Mores- norms that have moral significance; “strong norms” that specify normal behavior and constitute demands not expectations; violations are seriously punished (ex: murder kidnapping, rape/molestation)

3. Laws- norms (mores) that are specifically formal in writing and backed by the local, state, and/or federal government.

B. Symbolic- word, gesture, music, or anything that stands for something that enables us to communicate (ex: language)

C. Sociologic Perspective on Culture- culture meets human needs and unsure social order by meeting our needs.
Conflict perspectives- culture supports social inequality by reflecting the interesting rich and powerful.

Symbolic Interactionist perspective- culture reflects a shared understanding by serving as a social guide to social interaction and a product of interaction.

2. Analysis of culture

D. multiculturalism: a state in which all subcultures in the same society are equal to one another.
E. Ethnocentrism- the attitude that one’s own culture is superior to those of other people.

F. cultural relativism: the belief that a culture must be understood on its own terms; suppresses ethnocentrism by understanding other cultures by looking in their point of view.


Socialization Notes:

1)Socialization-process that involves social experience in which individuals develop human potential; process by which society, through its institutions, transmits its values so that individuals can assume their role in society.

2)Sociological Perspectives on Socialization:

A. Functionalist Perspective- Norms and values are instilled in children to insure social order

B. Conflict Perspective- reinforces age inequality and exploits children to child labor, child slavery, and child abuse.

C. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective- development of self-image and self esteem from interaction with others.

2) Processes of Socialization: Personality, morality, and intelligence, can all be shaped by socialization. Sociologists believe human nature is shaped by experiences in life, not biological factors. **Nature VS Nurture debate** Global analysis of socialization shows that some influence of culture on socialization.