UNDERSTANDING

CULTURE, SOCIETY &

POLITICS
LELLORD T. TOLETE
SUBJECT TEACHER
The concept, aspects and changes
in/of culture and society

Learning Competency:
Analyze the concept, aspects and changes
in/of culture and society
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
• analyze the concept of culture and society; and
• determine the aspects and changes of culture and society.
What is Culture?
According to Edward Tylor
“Culture refers to that complex whole which includes knowledge,
beliefs, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by man as a member of society”. It is also defined a set of
practices and traditions that define a specific society. Wherein Society
Constitution of social actors in constant interaction.
Culture is everything made, learned, or shared by the members of a
society, including values, beliefs, behaviors, and material objects.
What is Culture?
Culture is learned, and it varies tremendously from society to society.
We begin learning our culture from the moment we’re born, as the
people who raise us encourage certain behaviors and teach their version
of right and wrong.
Although cultures vary dramatically, they all consist of two parts:
Material Culture and Nonmaterial Culture.
Types of Culture
1• Material culture refers to the concrete and tangible things that man
creates and uses. They range from the prehistoric stone tools of
primitive man to the most advanced computer of the modern man
Material Culture consists of the concrete, visible parts of a culture, such
as food, clothing, cars, weapons, and buildings.
Types of Culture
2• Non-material culture - consists of words people use; the habits they
follow; the ideas, customs, and behavior that any society professes and to
which they strive to conform. Laws, techniques, lifestyle, and knowledge are
included, too.
Non-material Culture -consists of the intangible aspects of a culture, such as
values and beliefs. Nonmaterial culture consists of concepts and ideas that
shape who we are and make us different from members of other societies.

A Value- is a culturally approved concept about what is right or wrong,

desirable or undesirable. Values are a culture’s principles about how things
should be and differ greatly from society to society.
Examples of material culture
It may include money, tools, weapons, utensils, machines, clothing,
ornaments, art, buildings, and monuments. In other words, objects that
one might see in a market, a museum, a home, or a business, as well as
the structure or building itself, are part of material culture.
Example: One common form of material culture is jewelry that indicates
a person’s status as married. In American culture, people wear a metal
band on the ring finger of the left hand to show that they are married.
Examples of non-material culture
It may include languages and words, dress codes, etiquette, rituals,
business and social transactions, religion, laws, punishments, values,
and ethics. Many of these elements of culture are learned. Members of a
group learn how close or far away to stand in relation to people, how to
give something to someone, how to sit, and how to perform various
greetings, including both words and gestures..
Example: In the United States today, many women value thinness as a
standard of beauty. In Ghana, however, most people would consider
American fashion models sickly and undesirable. In that culture and
others, robustness is valued over skinniness as a marker of beauty.
Aspect of Culture
• Culture is learned and acquired - not instinctive acquired through the
senses and from experience habits, skills, values, and knowledge. It may
be acquired through imitation, conditioning, suggestion, formal or
informal instruction, or mass media
• Culture is shared and transmitted - transmission through ideas, passed
on to generations using language and other symbolic means of
communication
• Culture is social – due to man natural tendency to socialize.
• Culture is Ideational – Formation of ideas and use of the same assign
meaning to his environment and experiences
• Culture gratifies human needs – culture’s provision to satisfy
biological and sociological needs of people such as food, clothing,
shelter, protections, love, security etc.
• Culture is adaptive – Dynamism of culture and adaptiveness of
customs.
• Culture tends toward Integration – elements or traits that make up
culture are (custom) mostly adjusted to or consistent with one another.
• Culture is cumulative – accumulation of certain features of culture
over time.
Component of Culture
1. Norms - These are the guidelines people are supposed to follow in
their relationship with one another. They indicate what people should or
should not do in specific situation. It indicates the standard of propriety,
morality, legality, and ethics of a society that are covered by sanctions
when violation is made.
Component of Culture
Social Norms
a. Folkways – these are everyday habits; customs, traditions and
conventions people obey without giving much thought to the matter.
Folkways are a category of norm that is roughly translated to a 'social or
cultural custom’.
Examples of folkways include covering your mouth when you cough or
wearing covered shoes to a restaurant. Folkways are norms of etiquette
that are not very serious if broken.
Component of Culture
Social Norms
b. Mores- these are the norms people consider vital to their wellbeing
and most cherished values; they are special customs with moral and
ethical significance, which are strongly held and emphasized.
Mores are moral norms, meaning they have an element of right or
wrong.
Some examples of mores include lying, stealing, gossiping, bullying,
and trespassing.
Component of Culture
Social Norms
c. Laws- these are formalized norms enacted by people vested with
legitimate authority.
Laws are cultural and social norms that are policed by the state. If
you're found to have broken a law, you could be fined or even go to jail.
Examples: Commonly, a society will pass laws related to violence
against others, theft, and damage to property.
Component of Culture
Social Norms
4. Taboo- is a very strong negative norm; it is a prohibition of certain
behavior that is so strict that violating it results in extreme disgust and
even expulsion from the group or society.
Some examples of taboos include:
In many Jewish and Muslim communities, people are forbidden from eating
pork.
In Western cultures which value youth, asking a woman's age is often
discouraged.
In some Polynesian communities, people are forbidden to touch the shadow
of a chief.
Component of Culture
2. Ideas -are non-materials aspects of culture and embody man's
conception of his physical, social and cultural world.
3. Beliefs- refer to a person's conviction about a certain idea.
4.Values -are abstract concepts of what is important and worthwhile,
they are general ideas that individuals share about what is good or bad.
5. Symbols - It refers to an object, gesture, sound, color or design that
represents something “other that itself”.
What is Human Cultural Variation?
Human Cultural Variation -refers to the differences in social behaviors
that different cultures exhibit around the world. What may be
considered good etiquette in one culture may be considered bad
etiquette in another.

Cultural Variation Between Cultures - If human cultures modify the

natural environment, it is also true that the natural environment initially
shaped, and still shapes to some extent, the culture of society.
Variation within Culture
1. Subcultures - A segment of society which shares a distinctive pattern
of mores, folkways, and values which differ from the pattern of larger
society. It is a culture within a culture.
2. Counterculture - is a group whose values and norms place it at odds
with mainstream society or a group that actively rejects dominant
cultural values and norms. A Counterculture is a subculture that opposes
the dominant culture
3. High Culture – consist of activities patronized by elite audiences,
composed of member of the upper-middle and upper class.
Variation within Culture
4. Popular Culture – consist of activities, products and services that
assumed to appeal to member of the middle and working classes.
5. Ideal Culture – is the way people describe the standard of behavior-
the blueprint which provides the directions and guidelines in relating
either others or doing things.
6. Real Culture – refers to how one behaves in an actual situation within
the context of what may be regarded as acceptable by other members of
society.
Variation within Culture
7. Dominant Culture- in a society is the group whose members are in the
majority or who wield more power than other groups.

Subculture- Religion is not the only defining aspect of a subculture. The

following elements can also define a subculture:
Occupation Sexual orientation Hobbies
Financial status Age
Political ideals Geographical location