Culture

Unit 2

Culture

Socially transmitted customs, values, knowledge, material objects and behaviour.

Helps to define the group or society to which we belong.

Helps to explain human social behaviour.

Society A specific territory inhabited by people who

share a common culture

Read Page 82 cultural etiquette

Norms

Rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behaviour

Formal normswritten down

Informal normsgenerally understood but not precisely recorded

Activity: Signs (desktop)Then: Activity: Urinal study

Urinal Study

Norms

Urinal Study

Door1 2 3

Which urinal do you use?

Urinal Study

Door1 2 3

x

Now which urinal do you use?

Urinal Study

Door1 2 3

xx

Now what do you do?

Urinal Study

Door1 2 3

xx x

While you are using the urinal what do you do?

Norms

Norms are unwritten rules of behaviour.

Activity:

1. Think of a social situation.

2. List the unwritten rules of behaviour (norms).

3. What would happen if you violate any of these rules?

Norms

Norms are also classified by their relative importance to society

Mores

norms that have a moral dimension

Folkway

norms that shape our daily behaviour

Mores or Folkways?

Norm against cursing aloud in a place of worship

Eating 3 meals a day Incest Waking up the escalator when moving up Correct manners Sleeping in a bed Coming to school in your underwear

Sanctions:

Positive Sanctions:

FORMAL Salary bonus Medal

INFORMAL Smile Compliment

Negative Sanctions:

FORMAL Demotion Jail Sentence

INFORMAL Frown Humiliation

A penalty or reward for behaviour concerning a social norm

Law

Norms which are designed, maintained and enforced by the political authority of a society.

1. Speeding 2. Cheating on Income Tax 3. Murder

Cultural Values

Collective ideas of what is considered good, desirable, and proper – or bad, undesirable, and improper – in a culture.

Values influence people’s behaviour and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others.

Basic values: achievement, efficiency, material comfort, nationalism, equality…

Values Activity

1. On a piece of paper, list 10 things that you value.

2. Put these values in order of importance. 1 being most important, 10 being least important to you.

3. List your 10 values (1 being most important to you) on the white board.

Culture Shock

The feeling of surprise and disorientation that people experience when they encounter cultural practices that are different from their own

Exit Slip:

Think of a time when you experienced culture

shock. Explain why you felt this way.

Beliefs and Material Culture

Beliefs Ideas about the nature of reality. People base their behaviour on what they believe, regardless of how true or false the beliefs are

Material Culture The concrete tangible objects of a cultureNon-material culture

Ideas, knowledge and beliefs that influence people’s behaviour

Activity

Analyze a sport or hobby in terms of its materialand nonmaterial aspects

Sport: soccerMaterial: soccer ball, net, cleats, jersey, fans…Non material: competition, exercise, team spirit…

Graphic Organizer…Culture Write a definition in the pie-piece-shaped space for each component

of culture.

Norms:

Values:

Material Objects:

Beliefs:

Write a personal example of each in the outer circle.

Cultural Universals General cultural traits that exist in all cultures Not always carried out in the same way

1. Economy (trade, tools, technology, jobs, business, clothing)2. Institutions (family, government, education)3. Arts (art, literature, dance, theatre, music, crafts)4. Language (words, expressions, pronunciations, alphabet)5. Environment (communities, geography, habitat, wildlife, climate)6. Recreation (games, toys arts, holidays, festivals)7. Beliefs (values, traditions, ethnicity, customs, religion, morals)

Page 102 textbook

Cultural Universals Project

15 marks

Written or presented

Due:

Knowing Your Culture

1. Better safe than…2. It is always darkest before the…3. Don’t bite the hand that…4. No news is …5. A penny saved is a …6. Children should be seen and not…7. Better late than…

Proverbs:brief sayings that express commonly held ideas and beliefs.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one’s own culture is superior to all others and therefore the most “civilized” way to live

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Ethnocentrism?

Article: “The Dirty English”

Cultural Relativism

An approach that denies that any one way of living is superior to others

All cultures are equal.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Cultural Relativism?

Page 80 Textbook

Taboo

A norm so strong that the violation demands punishment by the group

Eg. In India, followers of Hinduism have a taboo forbidding the killings of cows. Other taboos are related to sexual behaviours.

Unit 2 Test: 25 marks Long answer, short answer and multiple choice

Vocabulary:Culture

Society

Norms

Folkways

Mores

Taboo

Law

Sanctions (Formal and Informal)

Culture shock

Values

Beliefs

Material Culture

Non material Culture

Cultural Universals

Ethnocentrism

Cultural Relativism