Society - a shared, learned, symbolic system

of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and

influences perception and behavior. It is an
abstract "mental blueprint" or "mental code."
A shared perception of reality
Commonly known as
Commonly known as
Common sense
They say
Everybody knows
Why bother with societies and cultures?
Humans are weak
Societies are mutual support pacts

Lets build a society

An individual
Two people
More than two
o Or twenty
o Or twenty million

Culture - those qualities and attributes that

seem to be characteristic of all humankind.
Humans evolve and adapt primarily through
culture rather than changes in anatomy
or
genetics.
Culture survives if it can accommodate to
changing conditions.
Culture is viewed as a macrosystem.
Binds a particular society together, and
includes its manners, morals, tools, and
techniques.

1st purpose of a society: reduce friction

between people in the society
2nd purpose:
separate one society from
others
Early

Human Culture
Small groups of around 25
Gatherer/hunters
Nomadic
Limited possessions
more permanent settlements
Became tribes
Xenophobia - intense or irrational dislike
or fear of people from other countries.

End of the Ice Age

About 12,000 BCE
The high grasslands began to dry out
Tribes migrated down into the river
valleys
looking for food
Tigris/Euphrates
Indus
Yellow
Nile
The first great change
Domestication of animals
Irrigation
Canals
Fields
Granary
Pharaoh
Pyramid of Zoser
The Torah
Class and Clothing
Class and Clothing
Chinese Fingernail Shields
Jocks vs. Nerds
Weighing the Heart
Ramses II
Queen Hatshepsut
Nazis

Soviets
Sparta vs. Athens
Rome vs. everybody
War of the Roses
English Civil War
American Revolution
French Revolution
American Civil War
Inquisition
Womens Suffrage
Civil Rights
Timothy
McVeigh
/
John
Allen
Muhammad /
Aileen Wuornos
James von Brunn; Scott Roeder; Jim
David
Adkisson
Anders Behring Breivik

Society - a group of people who have learned

to live and work together. It is a holon and
within the society, culture refers to the way of
life
is
followed
by
the
group.

Nature of Culture
Culture is a group phenomenon.
Cultures evolve from the interaction of person
with others, and a persons belief or behavior
becomes part of the culture when it is
externalized and objectified.
A culture evolves as each person encounters
four
poles.
Ones own body or somatic process.
Biological constitution
Genetic endowment
Other persons or society.
Feedback cycle
The material world of nonhuman objects.
The universe of social constructed meanings.
According to Erikson, cultures change through
the
action of persons whose ideas and behavior
fit the
culture.
Change can also occur as a result of cataclysm,
either
physical as in famine, war, epidemic, or
disaster.
It can also change as a result of a paradigm
shift in

fundamental understandings by those in the

culture.

understanding their built-in purpose but,

their purpose for the user.

Unique Aspects of the Human Species

The capacity to think.
o Sets humans apart from most
other forms of life.
Humans have the capacity to externalize
the thought process.
o Tools
o Human reproduction
o Cloning

Social Organizations:
Society and Roles
All cultures, being social systems, have
organization.
Three aspects operating to define social
class:
o Economic status
o Social status
o Political power
Social
class
suggests
a
group
consciousness on
the part of members.
Emergence of a permanent underclass
in
American society.
Role relates to and derives from status.
Total of the cultural expectations
associated
with a particular status, including:
o Attitudes
o Values
o Behavior
Role expectation are defined by the
culture and its components and
incorporated by the persons filling the
role.
All persons occupy a complex set of
roles:
o Parent
o Child
o Worker
o Voter
o Worshipper
The total number of roles is influenced
by the quantity of networks they are
involved
in.

The Family as Human Universal

The family is biologically based and is
the primary social unit.
Family is constant; the form of the
family is variable.
The development of culture exists
because culture is transmitted from one
generation
to
the
next
through
education not through the genes.
Language and Communication
Language is defined as any transfer of
meaning, but general usage refers only
to spoken and written messages.
It is essential to be attuned to unspoken
and unwritten language.
Language structures reality
o Form and variability determine
how members of the culture will
view reality and structure their
thoughts
.
Territoriality
Tendency of people to seek and
maintain a territory.
The
definition
of
spatial
and
interactional territories is paramount
feature of any culture.
Refers to the cultural ways people locate
themselves in their universe and
establish the boundaries of their various
human systems.
Qualities of a Society
Culture is that complex whole that
includes knowledge, belief, art, law,
morals,
custom,
and
any
other
capabilities and habits acquired by a
human being as a member of society.
Culture is viewed as the ways of doing,
being, and explaining, as they exist in
each
particular
system.
Tools
Amplifiers of human capacities:
o Sensory capacity
o Motor capacity
o Reasoning and thinking capacity
Include devices, objects, and procedures
that are extensions of human natural
capacities.
Tools of a culture include not only

Language
Transfer of meaning between systems and
between subsystems.
Composed of symbols and the meanings are
learned and transferred through social
interaction.
Communication of symbols and their
meanings
represents the major form of transaction
between
systems.
Mead stated that we do not simply respond
to the
acts
of
others;
we
act
on
our
interpretations of
their intentions and judgments.
A means of setting and maintaining cultural
boundaries; also to organize the energies
of the
system.
The
importance
of
screening
and
interpreting
symbols in working with people is quite
clear.
Child Rearing
A major task of any culture.
As a culture becomes more complex and

differentiated, so too does child rearing,

and other
social provisions appear.
These new systems arise to realize more
effectively
the complex values of a culture.
Certain values are in conflict with certain
other
values, leading to tension and strain within
the
culture.

Human Urge to Explain the World

Humans are congenitally compelled to
impose a
meaningful order upon reality.
Religion,
philosophy,
science,
and
superstition are
some of the means.
Science continues to be the dominant means
of
exploring, explaining, and changing our
world.

Social Relations:
Caring

Cultures are marked by the style in which

they
conduct social relationships.
Caring
involves
both
an
emotional
disposition and
caring labor.
It is a practice in which both thought and
action
are integrated around central aims or
goals.
Caring is a dimension of culture as much as
tools
and language.
A feminist critique states that caring is
largely delegated to women by a maledominated society.
Regardless of sex, individuals and groups
who occupy subordinate status display a
responsive
orientation
to
others
characterized by deference, attentiveness,
awareness of needs, understanding of
perspectives,
moods,
intentions,
and
responsiveness.
An emphasis on autonomy as a basis for
caring may be more acceptable to men.