SOCIOLOGY – LECTURE 3

IRUM KHAN
OBJECTIVES

 Define the concept of culture

 Understand characteristics of culture
 Identify elements of culture
WHAT IS CULTURE?

 Culture is pattern of behavior created by

human beings living in a group.
 Material culture comprises of tangible
products
 Buildings, arts, media, toys (e.g, University
building)
 Non-Material Culture comprises of
intangible products
 Norms, laws, customs, ideas, beliefs (e.g.,
Teaching methods, rules)
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
1. Culture is shared
• Collectively experienced and collectively agreed upon
• Socialization is source of acquiring cultural knowledge

2. Culture is symbolic
• Symbols are things or behaviors that people give meaning to

3. Culture is learned
• Can be learned through direct instruction or through observation and imitation

4. Culture is taken for granted

• Members of society seldom question the culture

5. Culture varies across time and place

• Culture is not fixed from one place to other
• It develops and changes as per environmental needs over generations
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

Symbols
Values &
Norms &
Beliefs
Languages
1.VALUES AND BELIEFS

 Beliefs
 Shared ideas held collectively by people within a given culture about what is true
 They are basis for norms and values of a given culture
 E.g., belief in God, after-life, democracy, justice, magic, astrology, ghosts
 Values
 What is desirable and morally correct ; What is right and wrong ; What is ugly and beautiful;
 Values can be basis of cultural cohesion but sometimes can be source of conflict e.g., hanging the
pedophiles in public, getting married at own choice and will, women in armed forces etc.
 What ought to be e.g., freedom, equal opportunity, competition and merit, patriotism, justice,
environmental protection
2. NORMS

 Specific cultural expectations of how to behave in a given

situation
 Social interactions are consistent, predictable and
learnable
 Formal / Explicit Norms
 Established written and formally communicated
behavior rules e.g., laws, manuals
 Informal / Implicit Norms
 Casual behaviors that are generally and widely
conformed to
TYPES OF NORMS
WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER (1906)

 Specific cultural expectations of how to behave in a given

situation
 Social interactions are consistent, predictable and
learnable Norms
 Folkways
 General standards of behavior adhered to by a group
e.g., how you dress, greet others, prepare food
 Mores (Moor-ayz)
 Strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior Folkways Mores
e.g., adultery, murder, scamming
TABOOS

 Strong social prohibition (or ban) against words, objects, actions, or discussions
that are considered undesirable or offensive by a group, culture, society or
community
 Discussing mental health.
 Talking about rape or sexual abuse.
 Inter faith / Inter-Sec marriages.
 Getting divorced.
 Girls getting highly educated.
 Career oriented girls
 Asking questions about religion.
3. LANGUAGE

 Language is a set of symbols, combined

in a meaningful way, allows people to
communicate with each other.
 Culture is transmitted through language
 It is important to learn the language to
become a part of a social group e.g.,
lawyers, doctors, friends, social media
 Languages evolve in response to social
change e.g. ‘Downloading’, ‘texting’
LANGUAGE
 BFF  WDYK
 LOL  POS
 TBH  OP
 TTYL  MTFBWU
 GFI  TMB
 BTDT  ZZ
 CRBT  KWIM
 SLAP  BM&Y
Text Language  WOMBAT  AAS
THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK
IRUM.KHAN@CUST.EDU.PK