LESSON 5

Culture

Concept of Culture

 The are many definitions of the word “Culture”

 Derives from the Latin “Colere” – Cultivate, to settle, e.g. agriculture, horticulture
 Culture is developed within the individual as well as the outside environment
 It is continually changing and dynamic
 Culture is reflected in communication patterns
 Culture is way of acting, a way of behaving
 Culture is a collective phenomenon
 People who grow up in similar environment tend to share common attitudes and behave in similar ways
 Culture is not inherited, it is learned

Defining Culture

Culture – all of the shared products of human group includes both physical objects and the beliefs, values, and behaviors
shared by a group

The “language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that are passed from one generation to the
next” (Henslin, 2007).

Edward Tylor (1873)

 Father of Anthropology
 According to him anthropology is the study of culture

Characteristics of Culture

 Culture is learned and acquired

 not instinctive
 acquired through the senses and from experience
 habits, skills, values and knowledge

Culture is social

 it's a group product

 it's social due to man's natural tendency to socialize

Culture is shared

 commonly shared by people in a community or territory.

 It is adopted equally by all
 Examples: customs, tradition, values, beliefs (the idea that marriage involves only one man and one woman)

Culture is transmitted

 transmission through ideas

 passed on to generations using language and other symbolic means of communication

Culture is dynamic

 It is constantly changing because new ideas and new techniques are added and old ways are constantly modified
and discarded.
 It also grows by the spread of traits from individual and from one group to another which is termed as diffusion.
 Example: Filipino vocabulary has grown because of borrowed words from other languages like Spanish, Chinese
and English.

Culture is accumulative

 accumulation of certain features of culture over time

Culture is integrated

 All cultural aspects are inter-connected with each other.

 Example: value system is interlinked with morality, customs, beliefs and religion

Culture is changing

 constantly changes and is not static.

 new cultural traits are added, some old ones are lost because they are no longer useful.
 Examples: most city dwellers today do not have or need the skills required for survival in a wilderness.
 use of computer

Culture varies from one society to society

 society has its own culture and ways of behaving

 Examples: eating, dressing up

Culture is responsive

 it intervenes with the natural environment and helps man from all dangers and calamities
 Examples: houses as shelter to be safe from calamities.

Culture is ideational

 formation of ideas and use of the same to assign meanings to his environment and experiences

Culture gratifying

 culture's provision to satisfy biological and sociological needs of people

 Examples: food, clothing, shelter, protection, love, security, sex, etc.

Linked with society

 society is a composite of people and they interact with each other within it.
 Examples: business, security, policy

Aspects of culture

Material and Non-material culture

Material Culture – formed by the physical object that people create

 Examples: Cars, clothing, books, buildings, computers, Archeologists refer to these items as artifacts

Nonmaterial Culture – refers to abstract ideas and ways of thinking that make –up a culture.

 Examples:
- cultural concepts of religion consists of a set of ideas and beliefs about God, worship, ,morals

language, family patterns, work practices, political and economic systems

 Components of Culture

SYMBOLS

 anything that stands for (or shared meaning attached to it) something else
 “something to which people attach meaning and that they then use to communicate with one another” (Henslin,
2007)
The Meaning of this red light depends on the context

SYMBOLS

- any word, gesture, image, sound, physical object, event can serve as a symbol as long as people recognize that it carries
a particular meaning

Examples: Class ring, word hello, handshake

Language
- a complex system of symbols that can be combined any number of ways that represent not only material cultural
products, but for communicating our nonmaterial cultural products as well

Organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system

The Importance of Language

Language facilitates culture

 Cheese + hamburger = cheeseburger

 Lettuce + hamburger ≠ lettuceburger
 Apple + pen = applepen

Values and Beliefs

Beliefs-the statements that people of a culture believe to be true

Values - abstract concepts about the way society should be standards of judgment

Shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable

Norms

 Shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations
 Norms are expectations, not actual behavior – doesn’t mean that actions of all individuals will be in line with norms.
 Examples: to be financially responsible – some don’t pay bills unimportant (cover mouth when yawning) to very
important (don’t kill anyone)

Material culture and Technology

Technology ties the world of nature to a world of culture.

 also, technologically powerful societies are constantly reshaping the environment according to their interest and
priorities.
 Examples: Chopstick instead of knife and fork loose robes rather that tighter clothes

Real vs. Ideal Culture

Real culture – is that which can be observed in our social life.

 culture on which we act upon in our daily life
 It is also our physical cultural objects (material culture).
 Example: If a person says that he is Muslim, when he follow all the principles of Islam is the real and when doesn’t
follow, is not a real one.

Ideal Culture

 our ideas, values, and beliefs (nonmaterial culture),

High vs. Popular Culture

High culture

 is distinguished from low culture based on the characteristics of their audiences, not on characteristics of their
cultural objects.
 refers to those forms of culture usually associated with the elite or dominant classes.

Example: expensive restaurants that serve caviar and play classical music

Popular culture

 refers to the forms of cultural expression usually associated with the masses, consumer good, and consumer
products.
 examples: trending, popular

Subculture vs. Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism

- values diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds and so encourages the retention of cultural differences
within society, rather than assimilation.

Ex: honors classroom with students from several different countries and who speak different languages.

A subculture is a group within society that is differentiated by its distinctive values, norms, and lifestyle.

Causes of Cultures Change

1) Invention- the process of creating new cultural elements

Example: technology – the skills and tools people use

 Stone, bone, bronze, iron

 Smoke signal, telegraph, telephone, face time
 Airplane ,computer

2) Discovery- involves recognizing and understanding more fully something already in existence.

 Examples: foods of another culture (enhancement)

 Women’s political leadership skills

3) Diffusion – the movement of customs or ideas from one place to another

 Ideas
 People
 Music, Art, & Athletics

Understanding Cultural differences

Eating habits

 Asia - chop sticks

 Europe - knife and fork
 Clean right hand in some countries
 Common plate
 Understanding Cultural differences

Eating habits

 Beef
 Pork
 Horse
 “Everything that moves”
Eating habits

 Pork not eaten by Muslims for religious reasons

 Christians keep horses, dogs and cats as pets
 Fish is neutral

Religion

 Religion – an important place in many societies

 Knowledge of religion of host nation very important
 Respect religious beliefs

Family and Gender

 Elders are highly respected in some cultures

 Understand family ties
 Different gender beliefs and views

Communication

 Language is culture specific

 Avoid use of idiomatic expressions
 Humour

Body Language

 Gesture/body language have different meanings

 Smile will never be misunderstood
 Polite handshake is accepted in most cultures

Dress Code

 Depends on culture, customs, traditions and climate

 Adapt to local customs

Traffic

 Peacekeeper die in traffic accidents

 Different traffic conditions
 Respect local traffic laws
 Adapt to local conditions

Time

 People have different concept of time

 Need to understand
 “You have the clock, we have the time”

LESSON 6
Deviant Behavior

I. Nature and Meaning of Deviant Behavior

Deviant Behavior

 A form of behavior which goes beyond the expected or approved behavior of the group. It is a behavior which
maybe be tolerated, approved or disapproved by the group.
 What is considered deviant in one society may not be considered as such in another
 What is deviant in a particular society at a particular place and time may not be considered as deviant at a future
time.
II. Positive functions of social deviation

 A number of social deviations are the outcomes of legitimate and conventional controls
 Social deviance makes people aware of the possible dangers emanating from such deviation.
 The recognition of deviance makes the group aware of the limits of tolerance they will have for some standards or
norms
 A certain amount of deviance may ensure the safety of some persons and minimize the strain on society.

A deviation may serve as a warning device for some imperfections of faults in the society which may cause discontent
and unrest and lead to changes that intensify morale and efficience

THEORIES OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

 Behavior is not defined by forces from the environment such as drives, or instincts, but rather by a reflective, socially
understood meaning of both the internal and external incentives that are currently presented. The meaning of such
things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and the society.

Neutralization theory

- GRESHAM SYKES AND DAVID MATZA

- Explains how deviants justify their deviant behaviors by providing alternative definitions of their actions and by
providing explanations, to themselves and others, for the lack of guilt for actions in particular situations.

2 Neutralization theory behavior

Denial of responsibility: the deviant believes she was helplessly propelled into the deviance, and that under the same
circumstances, any other person would resort to similar actions

Denial of Injury: the deviant believes that the action caused no harm to other individuals or to the society, and thus the
deviance is not morally wrong.

LABELING

 Is process of social reaction by the “social audience’”(stereotyping)the people in society exposed to, judging and
accordingly defining (labeling) someone’s behavior as deviance or otherwise (you label the “deviant” and they
act accordingly). It has been characterized as the invention, selection, manipulation of beliefs which defines
conduct in a negative way.

Conflict theory

 Karl Marx discovered this behavior of Conflict theory.

 States that society or an organiztions functions so that each individual participants and its groups struggle to
maximize their benefits, which inevitably contributes to social change such as political changes and revoultions.

Biological theory

 Praveen Attri claims genetic reasons to be largely responsible for social deviance. The italian school of criminology
contends that biological factors may contribute to crime and deviance. ‘
 Cesare Lombroso was among the first to research and develop the Theory of Biological Deviance which states that
some people are genetically predisposed to Criminal behavior. He believe that criminals were a product of earlier
genetics forms.

Psychological theory

 Relates that behavior is brought about by inner tensions or inability to control impulses and failure to structure one’s
behavior in an orderly way.
Structural Strain Theory/Anomie Theory

 Merton who explains the study of Structural

Strain Theory/ Anomie Theory.

->explains deviance as the outcome of social strains due ti the way the society is structured. For some people, the strain
becomes overwhelming to the point where they do deviance asa way to manage the strain.

 Other their deviance is due to their feelings of anomie- meaningless due to not understanding how the social
norms are to affect them.
 This Norms affect them because:
1. They are WEAK
2. They are CONFUSING
3. And they are CONFLICTING to the feelings.

Control Theory

 Walter Reckless dicovers the studies of the CONTROL THEORY.

 Both inner and outer controls work against deviant tendencies. People may want, at least some of the time to act
in deviant ways, but most do not.

The VARIOUS RESTRAINTS :

 INTERNAL CONTROLS:
 Such as CONSCIENCE
 VALUES
 INTEGRITY
 MORALITY
 The desire to be a “Good Person”

OUTER CONTROLS

 Such as POLICE
 FAMILY
 FRIENDS
 RELIGIOUS AUTHORITHIES

Differential association/ Cultural transmission

 Edwin Sutherland explains the Differential association/ Cultural transmission.

 The environment plays a major role in deciding which norms people learn to violate. Specifically, people within a
paticular reference group provide norms of confomity and deviance, and thus heavily influence the way other
people look at the world, including how they react.

People may learn criminal behavior by their:

 Interactions with others

 Interactions that legal to the laws
 Interactions that glorify violence
 Especially in intimate groups

The meaning of JUVENILE GANGS:

1. Glorify Violence
2. Retaliation
3. Crimes achieving status
4. And GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE wants to learn criminals act.

Subcultural Theory

 A paricular behavior may be “normal”/conforming behavior but from the perspective of the larger culture, the
bahvior is considered to be deviant. A person in a subculture may feel role concflict or role strain trying to balance
the norms of two very diverse groups of which one is a member.
Social Disorganization theory

Believes that a deviant behavior is caused by the breakdown of noems, mores, and other important values of society.

DEVIANCE

Deviance

 In sociology, deviance describes an action or behavior that violates social norms, including a formally enacted rule
(e.g., crime), as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores). It is the purview
of criminologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and sociologists to study how these norms are created, how they
change over time, and how they are enforced.

Conformity

 Conformity is the category that Merton reserves for those who generally do not engage in deviant behaviour. This is
the section for those that conform to and accept cultural and social norms. Society dictates certain goals
depending on class and social status, and an individual in the conformist category accepts those goals and the
legitimate means of obtaining them.

Five types of Deviance

Innovation

 Innovation is a slight warping of the conformist's views. Goals such as wealth and power are accepted, but the
means of attaining these goals is deviant from social norms. An example would be a stockbroker who accepts that
society has dictated wealth as a measure of success, but rejects the social stigma against illegitimate practices like
insider trading to obtain this goal.

Ritualism

 Ritualistic deviance is the opposite of innovative deviance. Instead of accepting the goals and rejecting the
means, the ritualistic deviant rejects the goal but accepts the means. This is often the case when a certain
behaviour is part of a routine, such as going to work every day even if you disagree with or outright reject the goals
of your employer.

Retreatism

 Retreatism is a combination of both innovative and ritualistic deviance. A retreatist deviant rejects both the goals of
society and the legitimate means of obtaining these goals. Transients, drug addicts, vagrants or the habitually
unemployed are examples of retreatists. As Merton maintains that deviance involves a conscious choice, this refers
to an individual who remains in their circumstances by their own free will instead of by force.

Rebellion

 In the rebellion category we have revolutionaries, terrorists and certain gangs. These individuals reject both the
cultural means of society and the venues for obtaining them, but unlike the retreatist they pursue alternatives and
seek to replace existing cultural norms with those in the counter culture. Merton considered the rebellion category
to be special, and placed it separately under a "new means, new goals" category.
