CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Origin of the term Culture

Culture is derived from the Latin word cultura or cultus which means care or cultivation.

Meanings of Culture

According to Dressler

Culture is a social heritage, transmitted from one generation to another and shared.

It consists of the sum total of skills, beliefs, knowledge and products that are commonly
shared by the number of people and transmitted to their children.

According to Smith, Stanly, and Shores

Culture is the fabric of ideas beliefs, skills, tools, esthetic objects, methods of thinking,
customs, and institution into which each member of society is born.

According to Bertrand Culture is the complex whole which knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals,
law, customs and other capabilities gained by man as a member of society.

CLASSIFICATION OF CULTURE

STATIC CULTURE is one in which the same culture or the same cultural patterns are
transmitted from generation to generation.

DYNAMIC CULTURE -- is one in which the culture and the cultural patterns continue to change
as they are passed on from one generation to another.

STABLE CULTURE stable when folkways and mores are satisfying, new elements and traits
are incorporate smoothly and without conflict; (retention of folkways and mores & introduction
of a new culture without problems).

UNSTABLE CULTURE -- when the group does not have satisfying solutions most of its problems
and conflict exists between the traditional and radical groups and their values. (extreme
cultural gaps)

FORMS OF CULTURE

Material culture consists of tangible things like houses, clothing, tools, utensils,
automobiles, television, etc.
 Non- material culture refers to what is symbolic or intangibles such us sentiments,
folkways, mores, system of beliefs and knowledge.

Folkways traditional ways of doing things in certain culture

Mores heavily sanctioned folkways for group survival and are accepted without question as
they embody moral views of the group

Custom a habitual practice, e. g. kissing the hands of the elders

Beliefs part of non-material culture,

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

Only human society possesses culture

Human cultures vary considerably although they resemble each other in some respect
(universal consensus)

Culture tends to persist once learned and accepted

Culture exchange gradually and continuously

Culture exists in minds of men who learned from previous generations and who use it to
guide their conduct with others.

There is a tendency to borrow from other culture (Jamaicans being too Americanize)

Members of a culture may behave differently as in the case of those who belong to sub-
cultures

No person can escape entirely from his culture

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

Cultures differ and one should not judge another culture by using his own culture as basis
(ethnocentric)

To avoid prejudices, there should be more contact between cultures

Travel, education, and reading about other societies are ways of bringing about tolerance and
understanding between nations (sensual orientation-why a person who lives in a first world
country would be more tolerant of homosexuals)
 With more diffusion between cultures, one global society may result (universal culture less
likely even for linguistic purposes)

Society can be improved by improving the culture

Since culture is made by man himself, he should develop worthwhile values

Since culture is learned, the school should inculcate in the young good aspects of the culture

Since the culture changes, the change should be for the better and society should decide what
those changes should be

The home, the school, and the church, should guard against borrowing from other cultures
things that are against the Philippines way of life.

FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE

Means of social control

Individuals usually behave in ways approved by society.

Means of communication

Members of a cultural group can easily communicate with one another because they use the
same language, the same idioms, and symbols with attached to meanings.

Establishment of ethical standards

A cultural group sets its own ethical standards, showing what is right and what is wrong, or
making an act right or wrong.

Anticipation of reaction

One can anticipate the reaction of an individual to the action of another or to any situation
for that matter because of cultural norms.

SOCIETY

DEFINITIONS

Society is a group of people occupying a territory.

The people are united in purpose, goals, and objectives.

The people share a distinct and continuous way of life, a comprehensive culture.
 The people have something in common, set of loyalties, and sentiments, an esprit de corps.

The people are organized in the sense that everyone has a function or role to perform in an
orderly manner.

The group recruits its members by sexual reproduction and in addition by immigration.

A member of the social group may sacrifice himself for the welfare of the group, as for
instance, he may die in defence of his group.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Culture and society are co-existent. One does not or cannot exist without the other. Culture
and society may have the some common elements but the two are not the same; they are not
identical. The essential difference is that society is composed of people while culture consists of
knowledge, ideas, customs, traditions, mores, beliefs, skills, institutions, organizations and
artifacts.