12 & 13.

CULTURE

Definition:

Culture stands for the moral, spiritual, and intellectual attainments of man.

- Sorokin

Culture may be defined as the pattern of learned behaviour shared by members of a

society and transmitted among them.

Characteristics of Culture

 Culture is an acquired quality

 Culture is social and not individual heritage of man

 Culture is idealistic

 Culture is the total social heritage

 Culture fulfils some needs

 Culture is an integrated system

 Language is the chief vehicle of culture

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

Culture Traits: are the individual elements or smallest units of culture.

Ethos: The traits that are peculiar to a particular culture which may be used to
differentiate one culture from to other.

Ethnocentrism: is a tendency of man to consider his own culture is superior than

that of other culture in terms of standards and values.
Overt culture 1. Material – products of industry – implements, vessels, gadgets

2. behaviour – Outward behaviour pattern of persons like –

customs, folkways, mores

Covert culture : Psychological – attitudes , values, belief etc.,

Norms are social expectations that guide behavior. It explain why people do what
they do in given situations.

Dogmas are fixed, especially religious, belief or set of beliefs that people are
expected to accept without any doubts.

Social Control

Social Control may be defined as any influence which the society exerts upon its
members for the purpose of providing the welfare of the group.
Need for Social control

– Social control is necessary for an orderly social life.

– to bring about conformity, solidarity and continuity of a particular

group or society
Types of Social Control

– Formal social control: law, punishment, army, Constitution etc. Man is

forced to accept these forms of social control. Generally these forms are
exercised by secondary groups.

– Informal social control: These agencies of Social Control have grown

according to the needs of the society. Folk ways, mores, customs, social
norms etc. fall under this category of social control. Generally primary
institutions exercise this type of social control.
Means of Social control

Customs

Customs are socially prescribed forms of behaviour transmitted by tradition.

Characteristics:

Customs regulate the whole of man’s action his bathing, washing, eating etc.

Customs are well-established actions and difficult to change.

Classification of Customs

i. Folk ways

ii. Conventions

iii. Mores and Taboos

v. Rituals

i. Folkways and uses

Folkways are approved forms of behaviour for specific situations.

This is the expected way in which person are to behave

Observation of folk ways is not must

So violation of folkways are not punished severely

ii. Conventions

Conventions are customs regulating more significant social behaviour.

- wearing cloth in public

- Polite to other

- People care for the adoption

- Convention are less violated than folkways

iii. MORES AND TABOOS

Mores are folkways, which are essential to ethical (morally correct) or moral value
of people.

The difference between folkways mores is the degree to which they enforced.

Folkways may be broken without punishment but violation of mores will be

punishable.

Mores are Positive action enforcing what ought to be done.

Eg. Saluting the flag, removing chappals before entering

temple, dress code in public, entering with permission

Taboos: are negative action envisaging what ought not to be done.

Eg. Eating pork by Muslim, child marriage, canabalism

iv. Rituals

It is the pattern of behaviour or ceremonies which has become the customary way
of dealing with certain situations.

Cultural Diffusion

Cultural diffusion is the processes by which the cultural traits invented or

discovered in one society are spread directly or indirectly to other societies.

Factors of diffusion

a) Relation and communication

b) Need and desire for new traits

c) Competition with old traits

d) The respect and recognition of those who bring new traits.

Acculturation: refers to those phenomena that occur when people of different
culture come into continuous contact, resulting subsequent changes in the original
culture pattern of either one culture or both.

Assimilation is a phase of acculturation. It is the form of acculturation that results

when individuals and groups wholly replace their original culture with another.

Cultural inertia: The resistance to change by people in a culture is called cultural

inertia.

Cultural lag : it is a situation in which some parts of culture change at faster rate
than other parts.

Marginal man

• Difference in culture produces a marginal man. A person who is living in

two cultures is likely to occupy not the center of either but by the margins of
both.

• He is the man who belongs to two or more cultures but is not fully accepted
in any.

• A migrant, who has moved into a decidedly different culture area from the
one in which he grew to manhood, is likely to be marginal man.

Functions of culture

Demands of the group can be met

* It gives rules to ensure cooperation

* Channel of interaction

• Teaches adjustment to environment

• Culture broadens the vision of the individual

• Keeps relations intact

• Creates new needs

• Prepare human for group life

• Solutions for complicated situations

• Traditional interpretation to certain situations.