Third Edition

ANTHONY GIDDENS MITCHELL DUNEIER RICHARD APPELBAUM DEBORA CARR

Slides created by Shannon Anderson, Roanoke College

Chapter 2: Culture and Society

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What is culture?
Culture is a set of values, norms, and behaviors
shared by a social group.
A way of life and the societys design for living
A societys system of shared and learned values and
norms;
The totality of learned and socially transmitted
behavior
It is a product of interaction of material and nonmaterial

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An expanded notion of culture

Culture also encapsulates the way of life of a
social group.
Ann Swidler (1986) described a cultural
toolkit from which we can choose the
appropriate toolsvalues, norms, practices
for any social situation.
Key point: culture is learned, not instinctual or
inherited.
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Characteristics of Culture

Culture is learned
Culture is socially transmitted
Culture is a social product
Culture is unconscious
Culture is adaptive
Culture has sanctions and controls
Culture is stable yet dynamic
Culture is both material and non-material

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Components of Culture
Material Culture

Non-Material Culture

Food
Clothing

Values and Beliefs

Norms
Symbols / Gestures
Language

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What is Culture?
Superstructure: A cultures worldview,
including morals and values, oftentimes
grounded in religion
Social structure: The rule-governed
relationshipswith all their rights and
obligationsthat hold members of a society
together. This includes households, families,
associations, and power relations, including
politics.
Infrastructure: The economic
foundation of a society,
including its subsistence
practices and the tools and other
material equipment used to
make a living.

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The Barrel
Model of

Culture is like an
Iceberg

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Norms
Values are the building blocks of Norms,
which are basic rules of social conduct.
Expectations about the way people do things
in a specific country
Social rules and guidelines; guide appropriate
behavior for specific situations
Three kinds: Folkways, Mores and Laws

Positive Mores : you can

Negative Mores : you cant

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Values and Belief System

Those ideals that a society holds above all others
(e.g., honesty, honor).
Abstract ideas about the good, the right, and the
desirable

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Symbols/Gestures
Anything that the society has agreed upon to
signify a meaning or understanding within and
between its people

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Language
Language is one of the most significant
cultural universals (others include marriage
and art).

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Symbols/Gestures

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Symbols/Gestures

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Symbols/Gestures

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Symbols/Gestures

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Cultural Diffusion
Process of spreading cultural traits or
social process from a society to another
through direct contact and exposure to the
new form.

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Cultural Assimilation
Blending or fusion of two distinct culture
through long periods of interaction

Acculturation

Involves borrowing and imitation that leads to

permanent cultural diffusion

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Enculturation
Deliberate infusion of a new culture to another

Amalgamation
Biological or hereditary fusion of societies

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Culture Shock
Feeling of disbelief, disorganization and
frustration after an encounter with a different
cultural pattern or practice.

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Cultural Diversity
Acceptance of different culture with respect
each other's differences.

Cultural Hemogenity
Disenfranchisement of culture through
absorption of a local culture by a dominant
outside culture
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Cultural Variation
Culture varies both across and within societies.
What is important and seemingly normal in
one society may not be in another.
Even within a society, the dominant values and
norms change over time.

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Cultural Diversity
Sub-Culture - A subculture is a group whose
norms and values differ from those of the
mainstream.
Counter-Culture - Subculture whose
standards come in conflict with and oppose the
conventional standards of the dominant culture

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Multiculturalism
Judging other cultures based on their own norms
and standards

Universal Culture
Social institutions found in virtually all societies.

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Cultural Centrism
Etnocentrism - Viewing ones own culture as normal
and, oftentimes, superior.
Xenocentrism Viewing a foreign culture as
superior and that his own culture is inferior to that
foreign culture.
Noble Savage Mentality Judging a simpler
lifestyle as better or more acceptable

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Cultural Relativism
Judging other cultures based on their own norms and
standards

Culture Lag
Gap between the material and non-material culture.

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Conformity and social control

Societies need a significant degree of
conformity to function smoothly.
Members learn norms through the process of
socialization.
Because people accept the norms and values of
their societies as natural, they largely conform.
Those who do not conform are subject to
measures of social control.
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Nature and nurture

Sociologists now study how nature and nurture
interact to produce particular behaviors.
The interest in nurture has led to an ongoing
focus on the importance of socialization.
Examining cultural variation offers evidence
of the role of the social in explaining human
behaviors and values.

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Becoming Human and Humane

Third Edition
ANTHONY GIDDENS MITCHELL DUNEIER RICHARD APPELBAUM DEBORA CARR
Slides created by Shannon Anderson, Roanoke College

Socialization

Introduction

Socialization- the lifelong process of learning to

become a member of the social world
Interaction - the basic processes of socialization
through which a child is shaped into a human being,
learns its culture, and becomes a member of a
society
Social self - the changing perceptions we have of
who we are as a result of ongoing socialization,
from birth to death.

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Development of the self

Self - the perceptions we have of who we are

which are developed from our perceptions of
the way others respond to us in our myriad
interactions
The development of the self begins at birth
and through infancy
Biology and sociology both contribute to the
development of the self

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Self-Concept: Who Am I?
Our sense of self
Self-concept
Self-schemas
Self-reference
effect
Possible selves

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Development of the
social self
The roles we play
Social identity
Success and failure
Social comparisons
Other peoples
judgments

Who Am I? The Self

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The Nature vs. Nurture Debate

The debate over whether biology (genes,
evolution) or socialization explains the self and
all human behaviors
Sociobiology (evolutionary psychology)- is a
bio-determinist theory that claims our genetic
make-up wires us for certain social behaviors
Not well accepted by most sociologists > 1920s
Greatly abused in from 1850 (Social Darwinism) all
the way to 1945 (Fascism)

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Socialization and the social world

Most of our experiences are a part of our
socialization experience
Micro-level- e.g., parents, friends
Meso-level- e.g., schools and religion
Macro-level- e.g., national advertisements

Organizations and institutions are dependent

upon socialized people to help them persist:
school, boot camp, internship, church school,
etc.
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Becoming Human and Humane

Third Edition
ANTHONY GIDDENS MITCHELL DUNEIER RICHARD APPELBAUM DEBORA CARR
Slides created by Shannon Anderson, Roanoke College

Deviance and Social Control

What is Social Control?

Any action, deliberate or unconscious, that
influences conduct toward conformity, whether
or not the persons being influenced are aware of
the process
Primary function of law is to establish and
maintain social control
Why is social control necessary?
1. Peaceful coexistence
2. Predictable coexistence
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What is deviance?
Deviance is a violation of ever-changing social
norms
Deviance is culturally dependent and historically
located, exists always in juxtaposition with some
normality
Deviance is socially constructed even though some
of it might be characterized as an immoral absolute
Deviance is overlooked in some situations

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Deviancy
Some acts are inherently deviant
Those who deviate are socially identified and
recognized
Deviants purposely and knowingly break the
law
Deviance occurs because there is a dishonest,
selfish element to human nature

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Who/what is defined as
deviant?
Both acts and individuals (and even entire groups) can
be defined as deviant: Condemn the sin, love the
sinner, aliens, misfits. etc.
Low status persons (e.g. ethnic minorities, poor
people) are more likely to be perceived as deviant,
their good behavior explained away
Higher status persons (e.g. priests, doctors) are less
likely to be defined as deviant, their bad behavior
explained away

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Structural Functionalist
Viewpoint on Deviancy

Deviance serves vital functions for society

Sets examples of unacceptable behavior

Provides guidelines for (opposite) behavior that is
necessary to maintain social order
Bonds people together through their common rejection
of deviant behavior
Provides jobs for those who deal with deviants
Can signal problems in a society that need addressed
(stimulate positive change)
Opens societies to new and creative paths of thinking

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Introduction

Stigma - the disapproval attached to

disobeying the expected norms
Crime - the forms of deviance in which formal
penalties are imposed by the society
We are all deviant at some time or another and
in some places

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Types of crime

Predatory or street crime

Victimless or public order crimes
Hate crimes
Organized crime
Occupational or white collar crime
State organized crimes
Global crimes

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Punishment

Harry Blacks Styles of Social Control

Penal: subject to formal punishment; accusatory
Therapeutic: subject to formal treatment;
remedial
Compensatory: payment of debt
Conciliatory: fair and reasonable solution

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Punishment
Formal

Direct

Arrest, trial
and sentencing by
agents of the state

The threat of legal

Indirec sanctions perceived
t
by onlookers ("it
could happen to me")

Informal

Social shame and

ridicule

Norms reinforced
by viewing and
participating in the
punishment

Example: The Scarlet Letter

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Becoming Human and Humane

Third Edition
ANTHONY GIDDENS MITCHELL DUNEIER RICHARD APPELBAUM DEBORA CARR
Slides created by Shannon Anderson, Roanoke College

Groups and Organization

What is Social Group?

The emergence of three or more individuals
into a pattern of goal orientation, characterized
by an interrelationship of statuses and
awareness of membership.

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Social groups
Social groups are:
People who interact with each other and share a
sense of identity
People who have a shared set of expectations (a set
of social norms)

Typically, there is some awareness of social

boundaries.

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Unit cohesion

Example: inside an Army Academy

Giving up of self in favor of the group
Bonds of discipline, loyalty, and conformity
Strong sense of unit cohesion

That cohesion seems rare in a highly

individualistic culture like the United States.

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Types of groups
In-groups and out-groups: us and them
Primary and secondary groups
Primary: the closest, most basic, intimate forms of
association
Secondary: large, impersonal, impermanent forms
of association

Reference groups: provide social standards

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Types of Social Groups

Primary vs. Secondary
Interpersonal vs. Instrumental
Small vs. Large
Interaction vs. Reference

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Examples
small
Family,
gang
primar or
y
fraternity
Reference
groups (NOW,
NAACP, AARP)

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officemates
classmates
secondary
Bureaucracies
such as Ford or
Apple
larg
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Types of Social Groups

ACCORDING TO SOCIAL TIES

Companionship

Contractual
ACCORDING TO SELF-IDENTIFICATION

In-group

Out-group

Reference group
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Types of Social Groups

ACCORDING TO GEOGRAPHY

Gemeinschaft

Gesselschaft

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Group Dynamic

Group size
Group goal
Motivation
Group Cohesion
Conformity
Decision-Making
Leadership

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Leadership
All groups have leaders.
There are transformational leaders and
transactional leaders.
Transformational leaders are inspirational and
change the purpose and meaning of the group.
Transactional leaders are pragmatic and
interested in accomplishing tasks.

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Social networks
Social networks are comprised of direct and
indirect associations that link people and
groups.
Networks offer connections beyond the
immediate, and thereby can extend
opportunities.
Different groups have access to more or less
helpful networks. This exacerbates inequalities
that are already in place.
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Online social networking

Online social networking offers many of the
same benefits as conventional networks,
without some of the constraints.
The Internet was originally used for military
and academic purposes, but now is available
(and used) as a network for hundreds of
millions of users.
Even so, there remains unequal access.
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