Subject Code SS6 Civic Engagement and Leadership

LG Code 2.0 Culture and Society

Lesson Code 2.2 Components of Society
Time Frame 30 minutes

Components Tasks TA ATA

(min)a (min)b
Target At the end of this module, the student should be able to:

1. analyze the concept of society in terms of its

characteristics, components/aspects, and functions; and
2. understand the concept of society in relation to
culture.
Hook Do you believe in the saying “Sticks and stones may break my 5
bones, but words can never hurt me”? Why or why not? mins.

Hint: Try to analyze in the question what is material reality and

what is interpreted reality so you can get an idea what is
uniquely societal and what is uniquely cultural in the question
(though the question is social and cultural at the same time).

This may be answered online during online classes or may be

answered separately and sent to the teacher for comments.

(Best answer: NO. Sticks and stones hurt the physical body, but
words can also hurt feelings and emotions which are present
although not immediately seen and cannot be captured by the
five senses. This is an introduction to the reality of the subjective
which is equally valid compared to the objective. ( from
Atmosfera et al., 2018))
Ignite Society is the material base by which culture operates. It is 15
the people/population with their social organizations, social mins.
institutions, and social systems living in a natural and
technological environment, and who share a culture.
The material “hardware” that host the cultural “software” of
social reality is composed of:
1. The population- these are the people living in
society which can be characterized from different perspectives
such as territory, sex and gender aggregation, age groupings
(ratio between youth, adults and old age), mortality and lifespan,
educational attainment of the people, religious affiliations,
ethnicity, political leanings, migration, urban and rural
population and many more.
2. Social groups and organizations- persons
living in society may be classified into different social
groupings. A social group is where people share a culture and
interact with each other. These may be family and kinship ties,
peer groupings, neighborhood, barangay, school and religious
affiliations, work and economic groupings, political groupings
and cultural groupings among others. These groupings may
form organizations which follow certain norms, practice rituals,
undergo processes, and pursue goals.

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 3. Social institutions- These are enduring
organizations that exert a strong influence on individuals on how
to conduct themselves in society. These are the family, the
school, the church, the government, the market, the corporation
among others.
4. Social Systems- these are networks of social
groups, organizations and social institutions that characterize
society in the large scale such as economic, political and cultural
systems that together sustain a capitalist system, a socialist
system, a welfare state mixed economy type, a democracy, a
dictatorship, a theocracy among others.
5. The natural and technological environment.
These are the natural resources available in each territory and the
technological resources available for the use of society to sustain
itself, reproduce society, and pursue goals. The combination of
the natural and technological environment may characterize
society as horticultural, agrarian, pre-industrial, modern and
postmodern information society (Macionis, 2014).
Navigate Imagine you are going to a foreign place such as 7
Timbuktu. You did your part researching everything in the mins.
area such as maps, the population, resources, tourist spots but
when you go there, you cannot speak the local language and
have no idea of the local culture such as norms and folkways.
You have no interpreter nor local guide. What problems would
arise? Can you really say you have been to this place when
you really felt “out of place” with the local populace? Why?

(Best answer: You have only physically visited the society but
felt out of place in the culture. While you can say that you have
been physically present in this society, you are psychologically
and morally absent in their culture. Social reality is also
composed of the interpreted reality which culture provides.
This requires the members of society to understand each other
through common interpretations of symbols such as words,
language, norms, and beliefs. Since culture is not automatically
available to the senses like tangible society, one would need the
tools to be able interpret the people’s culture. You may be able
to enjoy tourism in this area, but you will not understand how
people regard this place. To know this, you must be able to
communicate with the local people. It’s just like holding a book
that you can never read since the language is foreign.)

“One must also say that society is objectivated human activity,

that is, society is a product of human activity that has attained
the status of objective reality (Berger, 1967).”
Peter Berger
Knot As you walk through society, your five senses make you 3
experience the hard material reality of society. You wake up in mins.
a home with a family, walk through the streets which is your
environment, you go to a school, a mall, a market, a church, a
government building, a park, a movie and society gives you a
solid rock of experience. All these you do with others in the
form of social groups such as family and peers, organizations

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 and institutions all comprising a social system with its enduring
set of laws and processes.
a
TA – time allocation suggested by the teacher
b
ATA- actual time allocation spent by the student (for information purposes only)

Enrichment Activity:
1. Ponder upon this and be ready to discuss next meeting:
“Society is a dialectic phenomenon in that it is a human product, and nothing but a human product,
that yet continuously acts back upon its producer (Berger, 1967).”

2. Watch the movie Pocahontas (downloadable in YouTube) in preparation for the next lesson.

References:

Atmosfera, B., Zabate, K., & Veridiano, F. (2018). Civic Engagement and Leadership (p. 30).
Philippine Science High School.
Berger, P. (1967). The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. Doubleday &
Company, Inc.
Macionis, J. (2014). Society: The Basics (14th ed.). Pearson.

Prepared by: Ferdinand V. Veridiano Reviewed by: Czesar Ian R. Saul

Position: Special Science Teacher IV Position: Special Science Teacher II
Campus: PSHS-CARC Campus: PSHS-SRC

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