culture and society.ppt

8/13/2019 culture and society.ppt

1/44

Chapter Outline

Defining Culture

The Elements of Culture

Cultural Diversity

Popular Culture

Theoretical Perspectives on Culture

Cultural Change


2/44

Defining Culture

Complex system of meaning and

behavior that defines the way of life

for a society.

Includes: beliefs, values, knowledge,

art, morals, laws, customs, habits,

language, and dress.


3/44

Characteristics of Culture

1. Culture is shared.

2. Culture is learned.

3. Culture is taken for granted.

4. Culture is symbolic.

5. Culture varies across time andplace.


4/44

Culture is

Concrete

We can observe cultural practices

that define human experience.

Abstract

It is a way of thinking, feeling,believing, and behaving.


5/44

Elements of Culture

Element Examples

Language English; Spanish;

hieroglyphics

Norms Manners

Folkways Cultural forms of dress; foodhabits


6/44

Elements of Culture

Element Examples

Mores Religious doctrines; formal

law

Values Liberty, freedom

Beliefs Belief in a higher being


7/44

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Language determines what people think

because it forces them to perceive the

world in certain terms. Critics question whether language single-

handedly dictates the perception of

reality.


8/44

The Social Meaning of

Language

Language affects peoples perception

of reality.

Studies find that when college studentslook at job descriptions written in

masculine pronouns, they assume

women are not qualified for the job.


9/44


Language

Language reflects the social and

political status of different groups in

society. The term working woman suggests

that women who do not work for wages

are not working.


10/44


Language

Groups may advocate changing

language referring to them as a way of

asserting a positive group identity. Some advocates for the disabled

challenge the term handicapped,

arguing that it stigmatizes people whomay have many abilities.


11/44


Language

The implications of language emerge

from specific historical and cultural

contexts. The naming of so-called races comes

from the social and historical processes

that define different groups as inferioror superior.


12/44


Language

Language can distort actual group

experience.

The terms Hispanic and Latino lumptogether Mexican Americans, island

Puerto Ricans, U.S.-born Puerto

Ricans, people from Honduras,Panama, El Salvador, and other Central

and South American countries.


13/44


Language

Language shapes peoples

perceptions of groups and events in

society. The statement that Columbus

discovered America implies that

Native American societies didnt existbefore Columbus found the Americas.


14/44


Language

Terms used to define groups change overtime and can originate in movements toassert a positive identity.

In the 1960s, Black American replacedNegro.

Earlier, Negro and colored were used todefine African Americans.

Currently, it is popular to refer to all so-calledracial groups as people of color.


15/44

Norms

Specific cultural expectations for how to

behave in a given situation.

A society without norms would be inchaos; with established norms, people

know how to act, and social interactions

are consistent, predictable, and learnable. Social sanctions are mechanisms of

social control that enforce norms.


16/44

Beliefs

Shared ideas people hold collectively

within a culture.

Beliefs are the basis for many of acultures norms and values.

Beliefs orient people to the world by

providing answers to otherwiseimponderable questions about the

meaning of life.


17/44

Values

Abstract standards in a society or group

that define the ideal principles of what is

desirable and morally correct. Values determine what is considered right

and wrong, beautiful and ugly, good and

bad. Values can provide rules for behavior, but

can also be the source of conflict.


18/44

Cultural Diversity

The United States has enormous culturaldiversity from religious, ethnic, and racialdifferences, as well as regional, age, gender,

and class differences. 11% of people living in the United States are

foreign-born.

In a single year, immigrants from more than100 countries come to the United States.

18% of young people speak a language otherthan English at home.


19/44

% Speaking Language

Other Than English at Home


20/44

Dominant Culture

The dominant culture is the most powerful

group in society.

It receives the most support from majorinstitutions and constitutes the major belief

system.

Social institutions in the society perpetuate the

dominant culture and give it a degree oflegitimacy that is not shared by other cultures.


21/44

Subcultures

The cultures of groups whose values and

norms of behavior differ from the

dominant culture. Members of subcultures interact

frequently and share a common world

view. Subcultures share some elements of the

dominant culture and coexist within it.


22/44

Countercultures

Subcultures created as a reaction against

the values of the dominant culture.

Members of the counterculture reject thedominant cultural values and develop

cultural practices that defy the norms and

values of the dominant group. Nonconformity to the dominant culture is

often the mark of a counterculture.


23/44

Ethnocentrism

Judging a culture by standards of

ones own culture:

builds group solidarity

discourages understanding

can lead to conflict, war, andgenocide


24/44

Popular Culture

The beliefs, practices, and objects that

are part of everyday traditions.

It is mass-produced and mass-consumed. Has enormous significance in the

formation of public attitudes and values,

and plays a significant role in shaping thepatterns of consumption in contemporary

society.


25/44

The Influence of the Mass

Media

The average person consumes some form of

media 71 hours per weekmore time than they

likely spend in school or at work.

95% of all homes in the United States have at

least one televisionmore than have telephone

service.

Watching television is the most popular leisureactivity of Americans: 26% say it is their favorite

way to spend an evening.


26/44

% Of Americans Who Say They Are

Offended by Television Content (by Age)


27/44

Theoretical Perspectives on

Culture

Theory Culture.

Functionalism Integrates people into

groups.

Conflict Theory Serves interests of

powerful groups.


28/44

Theoretical Perspectives on

Culture

Theory Culture.

Symbolic

Interaction

Creates group identity

from diverse culturalmeanings.

New Cultural

Studies

Is unpredictable and

constantly changing.


29/44

Sources of Cultural Change

1.A change in societal conditions.

2. Cultural diffusion

3. Innovation

4. Imposition of cultural change by an

outside agency.


30/44

Fast Food and the

Transformation of Culture

The average person in the United States

consumes 3 hamburgers and 4 orders of

French fries per week.

Americans spend more money on fast food than

on movies, books, magazines, newspapers,

videos, music, computers, and higher education

combined. 1 in 8 workers has at some point been

employed by McDonalds.


31/44

Fast Food and the

Transformation of Culture

McDonalds is the largest private operator ofplaygrounds in the United States.

McDonalds is the single largest purchaser of

beef, pork, and potatoes.

96% of American schoolchildren can identifyRonald McDonald, which is only exceeded bythe number who can identify Santa Claus.


32/44

Quick Quiz


33/44

1. Culture includes all of the following

except:a. impulses

b. laws

c. art

d. knowledge


34/44

Answer: a

Culture does not include impulses.


35/44

2. Which of the following statements about

culture is not true?

a. Cultural beliefs and practices are

learned.

b. Cultural beliefs and practices are

constantly questioned.

c. Culture is dynamic that is it changes

over time.

d. A significant aspect of culture is that it

is shared.


36/44

Answer: b

The statement, cultural beliefs and

practices are constantly questioned, is

not true.


37/44

3. Expectations about what is appropriate

behavior in particular situations arereferred to as:

a. values

b. lawsc. norms

d. beliefs


38/44

Answer : c

Expectations about what is appropriate

behavior in particular situations are

referred to as norms.


39/44

4. Values can best be defined as:

a. What is considered appropriate

behavior

b. Shared ideas that provide a life theme

c. Shared ideas held collectively bypeople

d. What is considered socially and

morally desirable


40/44

Answer: d

Values can best be defined as what is

considered socially and morally

desirable.


41/44

4. Which of the following is not an example

of subcultures?a. Inner-city youth

b. Deadheads

c. The Amishd. Militia groups


42/44

Answer: d

A militia groupis not an example of a

subculture.


43/44

5. Which of the following statements reflects

the symbolic interactionist view of culture?

a. Culture creates norms and values thathelp integrate people into society

b. Culture serves to reinforce the position

of power enjoyed by the elite

c. Culture is socially constructed

d. Culture can be a source of political

resistance


44/44

Answer: c

That statement, culture is socially

constructed, reflects the symbolic

interactionist view of culture.

culture and society.ppt

Documents