Society- Distinct Area and Shared (Common) Culture

Culture:

Material and nonmaterial

Society- distinct area and shared (common) culture

Instincts- are genetic patterns of behavior. Nonhumans are highly dependent on instincts. Humans?

Culture may be stronger than instincts in determining behavior.

· Differences in mothering styles across cultures and time

· Instincts maybe working against each other.

Nature vs. Nurture

· Reflexes- inherited automatic reactions to physical stimuli.

· Drives- impulses to reduce discomfort

Culture shapes reflexes and drives- e.g., Boys crying America vs. Italian or Jewish Boys.

Sociobiology

Darwin’s theory with modern genetics

Criticisms?

Genes may work with society in shaping behavior-

· Behavior may be programmed into genetic code

· Genetics predispose us to act a certain way.

i.e., reproduction and mate choices by men and women

Stepfathers vs. biological fathers

Symbols-

· A thing that stands for or represents something else

· Material or nonmaterial

Language-

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis-(hypothesis of linguistic relativity) language is our guide to reality. (a theory developed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf that states that the structure of a language determines or greatly influences the modes of thought and behavior characteristic of the culture in which it is spoken).

· More words- more important

· Do we define words or do words define us?

· Labels or stereotypical labels may trap or dictate behavior

· Self-full filling prophecy

Norms and Values

Norms- rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Guide behavior without awareness.

Three types:

Folkways- are rules that cover customary ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving but lack moral overtones.

i.e., wearing hats indoors, talking loudly in a movie theater.

Mores- norms that have moral dimensions and that should be followed by members of the society.

· Taboo

Law-

Sanctions-Rewards and punishments used to encourage people to follow norms

Formal Sanctions-

Informal sanctions-

Values- The Basis for Norms

· Broad ideas about what is good or desirable by people in society.

· Values form the basis for norms

· e.g., values of democracy, freedom, hard work, punctual, money, power, education, religion, beauty, etc.

See p. 90.

Beliefs

Material Culture-

Nonmaterial-

Ideal Culture-

Real Culture-

Cultural Change

· Discovery

· Invention

· Diffusion

Diversity

Social Categories- groupings of persons who share a social characteristic

Subculture- a group that is part of the dominate culture but that differs from it in some important respects

Counterculture- a subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture

Ethnocentrism- belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture

A tendency to view alien groups or cultures from the perspective of one's own

Cultural Universals

General cultural traits that exist in all cultures- 72 have been identified.

Cultural Relativism