2

Chapter

A Down-to-Earth Approach 10/e

Slides by Dan Cavanaugh

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Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 1
 What is Culture?

 Language, Beliefs, Values,

Norms, Behavior Passed
from One Generation to the
Next
 Material vs. Nonmaterial
Cultures
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 2
 Culture and Taken-for-
Granted Orientations
 What is Normal, Natural,
or Usual?
 The Culture Within Us
 Culture as Lens
 Culture Shock
 Ethnocentrism
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 3
 Cultural Diversity in the
United States - Example
Arrival of the Hmong
 The Trip Over
 The New Home
 The New Rules
 Isolation and the
Regathering
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 4
 Practicing Cultural
Relativism
 Understanding Cultures
on Their Own Terms
 “Sick Cultures” - Robert
Edgerton
 Confronting Contrasting
Views of Reality
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 5
 Components of
Symbolic Culture
 Gestures
 Conveying Messages
without Words
 Gestures’ Meaning Differ
Among Cultures
 Can Lead to
Misunderstandings
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 6
 Components of
Symbolic Culture
Language
 Allows Human Experience to be
Cumulative
 Provides Social or Shared Past
 Provides Social or Shared Future
 Allows Shared Perspective
 Allows Complex, Shared,
Goal-Directed Behavior
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 7
 Language and Perception:
Sapir-Whorf
 Language Has Embedded

Within It Ways of Looking

at the World
 Sapir-Whorf Reverses

Common Sense
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 8
 Values, Norms,
and Sanctions
 Values - What is Desirable in
Life
 Norms - Expectations or
Rules for Behavior
 Sanctions - Reaction to
Following or Breaking Norms
 Positive Sanctions
 Negative Sanctions
 Moral Holidays and Places
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 9
 Folkways and Mores

 Folkways - Norms not

Strictly Enforced
 Mores - Core Values: We
Insist on Conformity
 Taboos

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 10
 Subcultures and
Countercultures
 Subculture - A World
Within the Dominant
Culture
 Countercultures - Groups
With Norms and Values at
Odds With the Dominant
Culture
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 11
 Values in U.S. Society

 Achievement and Success

 Individualism

 Hard Work

 Efficiency and Practicality

 Science and Technology

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 12
 Values in U.S. Society

 Material Comfort

 Freedom

 Democracy

 Equality

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 13
 Values in U.S. Society

 Group Superiority

 Education

 Religiosity

 Romantic Love

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 14
 Values in U.S. Society

 Value Clusters

 Value Contradictions

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 15
 Emerging Values

 Leisure

 Self-fulfillment

 Physical Fitness

 Youthfulness

 Concern for the Environment

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 16
 Values and Culture

 Culture Wars: When Values

Clash

 Value and Distorting Lenses

 “Ideal” vs. “Real” Culture

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 17
 Cultural Universals

 Some Activities are

Universal - Courtship,
Marriage, Funerals, Games
 Specific Customs
Associated with Activities
Differ Between Groups

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 18
 Sociobiology
 Controversial View of
Human Behavior
 Biology Cause of Human
Behavior
 Charles Darwin and Natural
Selection
 Sociologists and Social
Biologists on Opposite Sides
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 19
 Technology in the
Global Village
 The New Technology -
New Tools
 Cultural Lag and Cultural
Change
 Technology and Cultural
Leveling
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 20
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Chapter 2: Culture 21