Euthenics B

CULTURE

Stefany B. Turno, LPT.

WMSU visiting lecturer

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 Culture
• The word “culture” comes from the Latin “cultus”,
which means care, and from the French word,
“colere”, which means to “to till” as in “till the
ground”.
• Culture is that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and
any other capabilities and habits acquired by man
as a member of society
(E. B. Tylor in 1871).
• Culture is the whole way of living, from knowledge
and beliefs to customs and habits.
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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Learned
Culture is not genetic—we are not born
with culture. We learn our culture as we
grow up in it, through a process called
enculturation. It is also known as
socialization.

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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Shared
Culture is something that a group of
people shares such as practices and shared
understandings. They all think and behave
the same way because they grew up in the
same culture.
If one person thinks something or
behaves a certain way, that is not culture–it
is a personal habit. But if most of the people
in a society do it, then it is culture. 4
 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Shared
 Subcultures are a group of people within a
culture that have some kind of unique beliefs
or behaviors, but also still share things in
common with the mainstream culture.
Subcultures are subsets of the mainstream
culture.
 Countercultures are a group of people that
intentionally take on beliefs and behaviors that
are the opposite of the mainstream culture.
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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Symbolic
Culture is based on symbols, and culture
is spread from generation to generation
through symbols. People learn their culture’s
beliefs and behaviors through symbols.

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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Integrated
Culture is a complex system, made up of many
parts that are interconnected and related to each
other. Some examples of the parts of culture are
education, technology, marriage, medicine,
economics, family, beliefs and religion, government,
and language. When one part of the system
changes, other parts also change, since everything
is connected. One part can influence the others.

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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Integrated
Three independent parts in cultural
systems
1. Infrastructure (Economic base)
2. Social structure (Social Organization)
3. Superstructure (Ideology)

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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Adaptive
Adaptation is how an organism adjusts to its
environment. There is biological adaptation, which
involves biological changes. Over time, humans
have biologically adapted to their environment.
But there is also cultural adaptation, where
culture helps humans adapt to their environment.
Cultural adaptation is relative. This means that
what is adaptive in one culture may not be adaptive
in another culture.
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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Dynamic
Cultures are not static–they change over
time.
 Diffusion is the spreading of an idea,
thing, or behavior between cultures.
Cultures are not isolated–different cultures
have been in contact with each other
throughout history.

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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Dynamic
 Acculturation is when there is continuous
contact between two cultures, and ideas are
exchanged. Each culture may change, or both
may change, but they are still two distinct
cultures.
 Independent invention is when people find new
ways of solving problems. However, many times
people in different cultures have come up with the
same solution to a problem, each on their own.
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 Characteristics of Culture
Culture is Dynamic
 Globalization. Different cultures around
the world are now interlinked and
interdependent–we live in a global village.
Globalization involves the spread of culture,
usually Western culture, around the world
through forces like international business,
travel and tourism, the media and the
internet, and migration.
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 Types of Culture
 Material culture is physical things that are
created by a society.
 Nonmaterial culture, or the intangible
things produced by a culture.

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 Elements of Culture
• Social organization - This is the way that society
divides people. It is an important element of culture
that defines how the society treats the relationships
between different members of that culture.
• Customs, or the traditions, values, and social norms of
a society. These help a society define their beliefs
about right and wrong and create social pressure to
obey those beliefs.
• Religion is another element, which demonstrates a
society's morals and beliefs about humanity's
spirituality and reason for existing.
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 Elements of Culture
• Language is a series of spoken, acted, or
written symbols for communication. This is
another crucial aspect of how we live our daily
lives and connect to people in our society.
• Government, the structures created by society
to maintain order;
• Economy, the rules of buying, selling, trading,
and assigning value to things;
• Arts, the material expressions of beauty,
emotions, and beliefs. A culture contains all of
these elements to some degree. 15