Intro. To Culture

Have you ever been told that you resemble your

mom or dad?

In what ways does your personality resemble your

family members?

In what ways are you alike/different from your

family?

Do you dislike the music your parents play?

Do you wear a style of dress because it is popular?

Material Culture Skyscrapers Computers Cell phones Cars TVs

Non-material Culture Beliefs Rules Customs Family system Capitalist economy

- Knowledge, language, values, customs, and physical objects passed down from generation to generation

- Helps explain human social behavior- Culture is LEARNED; human cultural behavior must be LEARNED

Group of people that live in a defined territory and participate in a common culture

What makes up your cultural personality?

Nature Genetic make-up (biology)

Culture vs. Instinct

Nature/Biology Reflex

Biologically inherited reaction to a physical stimuli Pupils contract in bright light

Drives Impulse to reduce discomfort

Hungry? - you eat; Tired? - you sleep These do not control all human behavior

What makes up your cultural personality?

Nurture Environmental factors Culture

WE ARE A PRODUCT OF OUR HEREDITY AND CULTURE!!!

It’s Nature AND Nurture BABY!

Knowing your culture The pen is mightier than… Better safe than…

Don’t bite the hand that… No news is…

A penny saved is a… Children should be seen and not… Better late…

Culture is learned through…SYMBOLS

Physical objects, sounds, smells, tastes, words words are a symbol for an object Applause

Concert in US = positive Athlete in Latin America = negative

Language frees us of time and place Allows future generations to access the same material Cultural Transmission

Passing of culture from generation to generation

Symbols that guide reality The more important the

idea/concept/physical object the more words we have to represent it US: snow = few words

Inuit (Eskimo): snow = more than twenty Your perception of the world differs/alters as

you learn new language

List all the words you use for “clothes”? “food”?

Hypothesis of linguistic relativity

Accoutrement Apparel Costume Dress Duds Ensemble Frock Garb Garments Gear Hand me downs Outfit Rags Regalia Sunday Best Threads Wardrobe

Bite Chow Cooking Cuisine Diet Eats Entrée Fare Feast Fuel Groceries Grub Meal Mess Munchies Nourishment Ration Slop Snack Sustenance

Body language and gestures are not always universal. Based on our

reading of “What’s A-OK in the U.S.A is Lewd and Worthless Beyond” what happens when the gestures we use here in the United States don’t cross

over our borders?

Answer the following:1. What is the gesture?2. What does it mean here in the US?3. What is its meaning in at least one other

country mentioned in the article?

Components of Norms

Rules defining behavior in a specific situation Taught through the use of sanctions (rewards and punishments)

Standing in line for concert tickets Applaud for a guest speaker Laws against stealing

Unaware that we are guided by norms, until they are broken Cutting in line for concert tickets

Values Broad ideas about what most people in a society/group consider

desirable Do not dictate a specific behavior

Beliefs Ideas about reality Can be true or false

Germans believed if they put a poster of Hitler on their walls, it would prevent the walls from crumbling during bombing (false)

No intelligent life exists on Mars (true – based on scientific evidence) Behavior is based at some level on our beliefs

Physical objects Material culture How we relate to physical objects

1. Norm

2. Physical Object

3. Language

4. Symbol

5. Value

A. Broad ideas about what most people in a society consider desirable

B. Rules defining a specific behavior

C. Material Culture

D. Sounds, smells, tastes, words

E. Frees us from place and time

Types of

Folkways

Mores Taboos

Laws

Norms that lack moral significance Not considered vital to group welfare Disapproval for breaking a folkway is not

costly Sleeping on the floor vs. in a bed Talking on a cell phone in the movies Smoking in public places (folkway turned law as

norms changed)

Norms with GREAT moral significance Vital to well being of society; therefore,

conformity is a social requirement Cheating on a test Do not cry “fire” in a public place Pay back borrowed money

Remember… A folkway is more of a preference than a

requirement How does your family eat dinner? (At the

table, in front of the tv, together, on-your-own, eat out, daily discussion)

What are the folkways of the cafeteria? AND

A more is more of a requirement than a preference

MORE Most serious mores are TABOOS

Violation demands punishment by group Not laws, but unacceptable Many relate to sexual behaviors

Incest Cannibalism

Formally defined and enforced by officials Consciously created and enforced Guided by mores – as culture changes so

do the laws (ie. smoking ban in public places)

Essential for society’s well being Running a red light Murder

p.86 silly laws chartp84 pictures, what is being followed or broken?

Rewards/Punishments that encourage people to follow norms

By a certain age we conform to norms, etc. without threat of sanctions Believe specific behavior is appropriate Avoid guilty feelings Fear social disapproval

Formal Applied only by officials (judges, teachers)

Reward – Congressional Medal of Honor Punishment – Hockey player’s loss of eligibility after hitting

another player in the face (requiring more than 20 stitches)

Informal Applied by most members of a group

Reward – thanking someone for their help Punishment – staring at someone for talking while

someone else is talking

Broad ideas about what most people in a society/group consider desirable

Norms are based on them – even societies with different norms can have similar values!

EXAMPLE:

Norms: Free Speech Norms: Medical Care Free Enterprise Education

Duggar Family (US) – 19 kids and counting!

One Child Policy

(China)

Values affect how family relationships are

conducted, how people treat each other, how organizations are run,

how people worship, etc!

Ideas about realityCan be TRUE or FALSE

WWII Germans – Poster of Hitler on wall would prevent it from crumbling

No intelligent life on Mars – Scientifically proven

Behavior is based at some level on beliefs regardless of whether or not they are true!

Help us to assign cultural meaning to physical objects (material culture)

Not defined by physical characteristicsRather defined by our beliefs, norms, & values

-Out of service trolley: restaurant- More “secular” instruments in church- The CLAW

Have your group select a physical object (material culture) from the box.

Explain its cultural significance. Over time, has

its meaning changed? Explain

OPENING ACTIVITY

Think of an example of real and ideal culture at Council Rock North.

Should the aspect of ideal culture be abandoned?

Why or why not?

Simply because we have cultural guidelines…

Cultural guidelines publicly embraced by society – “how we should behave”

High set of standards that most people aim forHelp to detect deviant behavior –

(Sanctions!)

Society’s actual behavior! – “how we actually behave”

IDEAL vs. REALEXAMPLES

IDEAL CULTURE = HONESTYREAL CULTURE = student cheat on tests,

people violate tax laws

EXTREMES like murder, rape, etc. are part of NEITHER culture because they violate

both!

Let’s Practice… Cultural Components Worksheet

does change over time

Grandparents may not have gone to college

As teenagers, your parents did not email or text friends (communication)

Interracial dating (still not very common but much more widely practiced)

does change over time3 REASONS

1) Discovery – process of finding something that already exists

EXAMPLE: Athletic ability of women – always existed but recently acknowledged

2) Invention – creation of something newEXAMPLE: Steam engine, cell phone, i-Pod

3) Diffusion – borrowing aspects from other culturesEXAMPLE: Food: tacos, pizza, hamburgers

(McDonalds) Piñatas - celebrations

Once people learn a culture we become strongly committed to it, can’t think of/imagine any other way to live

When people judge others based on our own cultural standards =I can’t imagine my life without my trusty cell

phone!

However, differences do exist in society because of various social categories

Social categories – groups that share a social characteristic (age, gender, religion, etc.)

Subculture- Part of a larger culture/society but differs in an important respect

EXAMPLES: Chinatown – Chinese immigrants pass down their native culture while also being affected by American culture

…Youth…musicians…jocks and athletes…

Counterculture A subculture that is consciously opposed to

certain central beliefs/attitudes of the larger culture

Motorcycle gangs, KKK, drug groups, goth, punk

Across ALL cultures there exists over ____common cultural traits –

Essential to the survival of cultures!!!Biological needs – Because food is necessary,

cooking must be donePhysical needs – Because protection is necessary for

survival, shelter must be created

Social Problems – Because new members must be taught culture, educational methods are used

Not all cultural universals are carried out in thesame way =

Examples:US – Typical for women to raise

childrenNew Guinea – Men completely in

charge

Can you think of Cultural Particulars for…Cooking ? Marriage ? Sports ?

Family ?