Jaymie Ticknor Intro Sociology 1510 Sect 900 12 September 2013 Chapter 2 Culture and the Media Defining Culture Culture complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society includes beliefs values knowledge art morals laws customs habits language and dress ways of thinking as well as patterns of behavior gives meaning to society Material Culture consists of the objects created in a given society its buildings art tools toys print and broadcast media Nonmaterial Culture includes the norms laws customs ideas and beliefs of a group of people less tangible than material culture Characteristics of Culture Culture is Shared collectively experienced and collectively agreed upon Culture is Learned beliefs and practices are usually so well learned that they seem perfectly natural but they are learned indirectly through observation and imitation A person becomes a member of a culture through both formal and informal transmission of culture until learned the person will feel like an outsider Process of learning culture is referred to by sociologists as socialization Culture is Taken for Granted people engage unthinkingly in hundreds of specifically cultural practices every day culture makes these practices seem normal Culture binds us together but lack of communication across cultures can have negative consequences and awkward situations Culture is Symbolic the significance of culture lies in the meaning it holds for people Symbols things or behaviors to which people give meaning the meaning is not inherent in a symbol but is bestowed by the meaning people give it Culture Varies Across Time and Place culture develops as humans adapt to the physical and social environment around them Culture is concrete because we can observe the cultural objects and practices that define human experience culture is abstract because it is a way of thinking feeling believing and behaving culture links the past and present because it is the knowledge that makes us part of human groups culture gives shape to human experience The Elements of Culture Culture is multifaceted consisting of both material and nonmaterial things different elements of culture include language norms beliefs and values Table 2 1 Elements of Culture Language a set of symbols and rules that put together in a meaningful way provides a complex communication system examples English Spanish hieroglyphics Norms the specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation behavior involving use of personal space manners Folkways general standards of behavior adhered to by a group cultural forms of dress food habits Mores strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior religious doctrines formal law Values abstract standards in a society or group that define ideal principles liberty freedom Beliefs shared ideas about what is true held collectively by people within a given culture belief in a higher being or a deity Language Language a set of symbols and rules that put together in a meaningful way provides a complex communication system is fluid and dynamic and evolves in response to social change Does Language Shape Culture Sapir Whorf Hypothesis asserts that language determines other aspects of culture because language provides the categories through which social reality is defined thought that language determines what people think because language forces people to perceive the world in certain terms speakers of different languages have different perceptions of reality Language and culture are inextricable each shaping the other Social Inequality in Language Different names being used for different categories of races ethnicities relationships identity social class and just in general Norms Norms the specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation Sometimes norms are implicit they need not be spelled out for people to understand them Norms are explicit when the rules governing behavior are written down or formally communicated specific sanctions are imposed for violating explicit norms William Graham Sumner 1906 identified two types of norms Folkways general standards of behavior adhered to by a group loosely defined and adhered to but structure group customs and implicitly govern much social behavior Mores strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior often upheld through rules or laws the written set of guidelines that define right and wrong in society Social Sanctions mechanisms of social control that enforce norms can be positive or negative based on rewards or punishment Culture is actually enforced through the social sanctions applied to those who violate social norms Taboos strictest norms in society behaviors that bring the most serious sanctions Ethnomethodology theoretical approach in sociology based on the idea that you can discover the normal social order through disrupting it Beliefs Beliefs shared ideas about what is true held collectively by people within a given culture about what is true shared beliefs are part of what binds people together in society Values Values abstract standards in a society or group that define ideal principles define what is desirable and morally correct considered right or wrong beautiful and ugly good and bad abstract Potlatch wealthy chiefs would periodically pile up their possessions and give them away to their followers and rivals Conspicuous Consumption consuming for the sake of displaying one s wealth Cultural Diversity The culture of the United States including its language arts food customs religious practices and dress can be seen as the sum of the diverse cultures that constitute this society Dominant Culture Two concepts from sociology help us understand the complexity of culture in a given society Dominant Culture culture of the most powerful group in a society the cultural form that receives the most support from major institutions and that constitutes the major belief system not the only culture in a society nor the culture of the majority of people Subcultures Other concept from sociology that help us understand the complexity of culture in a given society Subcultures cultures of groups whose values and norms of behavior differ to some degree from those of the dominant culture Amish some religious cults etc Countercultures Countercultures subcultures created as a reaction against the values of the dominant culture nonconformity to the dominant culture is often the hallmark of this youth groups