Presenter: Joshua GOA

Intended Lecture Outcome

Students should be able to:

Understand culture as a powerful force that
shapes societies and influences their process.
Introduction
Culture can be defined as the beliefs, values, customs,
behaviours, and artifacts shared by a group of people. It
shapes their way of life, social practices and identity.
The world is home to a variety of cultures, each with it’s own
unique customs,, languages, and traditions. Embracing
cultural diversity fosters tolerance and openness.
It is important to note that cultural factors such as rigid
traditions, gender bias, or barriers to external ideas, can
impede economic development and hinder innovation.
Culture plays a pivotal role in the community empowerment
and development of societies. Recognising and appreciating
diverse cultures, while addressing potential challenges and
inequalities, is essential for fostering sustainability.
Culture shapes behaviour.
 Background
 The last 25 to 30 years have been fruitful for drawing attention to
cultural differences in behavior and development, and much research has
illuminated culturally particular developmental trajectories. Today, it is
widely recognized (and maybe even taken for granted by many) that
culture matters and that culture influences behavior and development
(Raeff et al, 2020).
 Advancing understanding of how culture matters can also inform
designing culturally sensitive and efficacious programs for addressing
some of the world’s pressing issues.
 We live in the midst of globalization and new migrant patterns that are
affecting lifespan development around the world. Social media facilitate
contact among people of diverse cultures, and make such contact easy
and fast. While increased cultural contact promotes the development of
mutual understanding among people around the world, alas it also
sometimes engenders conflict among people of different cultural
circumstances. Within diverse cultures, divisiveness makes it difficult for
people to recognize common concerns and to develop ways of
cooperating toward common goals.
Global climate change challenges
the culturally diverse people of
the world to cooperate toward
common goals.
Coronavirus pandemic. If ever
there was a challenge for the
culturally diverse people of the
world to deal with together, this
pandemic is it. It is a global crisis
that knows neither geographic
nor cultural boundaries.
Understanding cultural processes
will be crucial for the culturally
diverse people of the world to
collectively address the crisis
now and the aftermath in the
years to come (Raeff et al,
2020).
Types of Culture
 Non-material culture-intangible human creations. Thoughts or
ideas that make up a culture the non-material culture (Gerber,
2011). Examples of non-material culture include ideals, ideas,
beliefs, values, norms that may help shape society.

 Material culture –tangible creations of a

society. Examples are physical objects or artifacts etc.

 Shapes what we do

 Helps form our personalities

 Informs our definition of what is ‘normal ‘

 Seven (7) Elements of Culture
1.Social Organization

 Creates social structure by organizing its members into small units

to meet basic needs.

 Family Patterns: family is the most important unit of social

organization. Through the family children learn how they are
expected to act and what to believe.

 Nuclear family: wife, husband, children. This is a typical family in an

industrial society (US).

 Extended family: Several generations living in one household,

working and living together: grandparents, aunts and uncles,
cousins. Respect for elders is strong.

 Social classes: rank people in order of status, depending on what is

important to the culture (money, job, education, ancestry, etc.
2.CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
(Values & beliefs)

 Rules of behavior are enforced

ideas of right and wrong. They
can be customs, traditions,
rules, or written laws.
 For example the culture of PNG
is many-sided and complex. It
is estimated that more than
7000 different cultural groups
exist in PNG & most groups
have their own language.
Values and Beliefs

-Values are culturally defined standards by which

people assess desirability, goodness, and beauty and
that serve as broad guidelines for social living.
- Beliefs are specific statements that people hold to be
true (e.g. We are going to be the rich black Christian
nation)
3.Religion
  Answers basic questions about the meaning of life.
 Supports values that groups of people feel are important.
 Religion is often a source of conflict between cultures.
 Monotheism is a belief in one god.
 Polytheism is a belief in many gods.
  Atheism is a belief in no gods

4.Arts & Literature

 They are the products of human imagination.

 They help us pass on the culture’s basic believes. Eg.
Traditional Atefacts (carvings etc), art, music, folk tales
(traditional stories) and literature etc..
5.Language
Language is the cornerstone of culture.
Language is characterised by it’s cultural and historical
diversity, with significant variations between cultures
and across time (Evans and Levinson, 2009).
 All cultures have a spoken language (even if there are
no developed forms of writing).
People who speak the same language often share
the same culture. 
Many societies include a large number of people who
speak different languages.
Each language can have several different dialects.
 7.Economic System
6.Forms of An economic system or economic
Government order is a system of production, resource
allocation and distribution of goods &
 People form services within a society (Daniel et al,
1987).
governments to How people use limited resources to
provide for their satisfy their wants and needs. Answers
the basic questions; what to produce,
common needs, keep how to produce it,, and for whom.
order within society, Traditional economy: people produce
and protect their most of what they need to survive.
Command Economy: Government
society from outside controls what/how goods are produced
threats. and what they cost. Individual have little
economic power. Mixed economy:
Individuals make some economic
decisions and the government makes
others.
Cultural Judgment & change
Ethnocentrism-The practice of
judging another culture.
-Tendency to view own culture as
superior. Can build unity. Can
stagnate society as shut off from Motivate people to follow
ideas and others. Can lead to
conflict
by the standards of one’s own
culture.
Cultural relativism-The practice
of judging a culture by its own
standards
Cultural Lag-timeframe for
change, material culture
changes faster than non-
material
because of reward &
punishment
Vested interests-if satisfied
with status quo, why risk
the unknow? Eg.Workers
against new technology
Factors that stimulate change
1.Values & beliefs- change one part of the system, all
change.
 Idealogy- Systems of believe that justify the social,
moral, religion, political and economic interest held
by a group or society.
 Social movements- long term conscious effort to
promote or prevent social change. Large numbers of
people. Eg. Civil rights, Prohibition, Environmental,
gender equality etc…Can transform the entire political
landscape
2.Technology-use to manipulate your environment.
3.Population-change in the size of the population or new
subgroup brining a new influence. Eg. Change in average
age of population, migration, economic effects.
4.Diffusion-process by which cultural traits are spread from
one society to another. Increase contact increases sharing.
Media now constantly shape our thoughts.
REFORMULATION is when a culture adapts a trait to
their own.
5.Physical environment-food=scarcity, natural disasters,
change in natural resources. Eg. Fuel crises
6.Wars and conquest-loss of lives, war zone cultures. Eg.
change in the status of women on the homefront WW2,
innovation of Bouganvilleans during Bougainville crisis
etc.
Individual and social benefits of culture

 Participation of people in culture can benefit individuals in many

different ways, some of which are deeply personal.
 Culture is also a means of expressing creativity, forging an individual
identity, and enhancing or preserving a community’s sense of place.
 Cultural experiences are opportunities for leisure, entertainment,
learning, and sharing experiences with others. From museums to
theatres to dance studios to public libraries, culture brings people
together
 Within a CCD framework, cultural mapping and planning with local
governments and communities are used to identify strengths and resources in
communities that can be used to enhance community functioning
(Commonwealth Department of Communication and the Arts, 1995; Grogan,
Mercer & Engwicht, 1995; Kins & Peddie, 1996).
E.G Using theatre arts to educate people on family planning
 In children and youth, participation in culture helps develop thinking
skills, builds self-esteem, and improves resilience, all of which
enhance education outcome
 Students from low income who participate in cultural activities are
more likely to succeed.
 Cultural heritage broadens opportunities for education and lifelong
learning including better understanding of history
 Community arts include a range of visual, theatrical and textual art
forms.
 CCD is a participative process that draws out taken-for-granted (Kins
& Peddie, 1996).
 Knowledge and the future aspirations of a community through creative means
in order to express, preserve or enhance that community’s culture.
 Community arts- not only end products but provide a medium through which
community members engage in the joint identification and production of
images, symbols and other resources.
Rostow development Model
(Rostow, 1991).
 Conclusion

Culture is the lifeblood of a vibrant society,

expressed in the many ways- telling stories,
celebrate, recalling the past, entertainment,
and imagine the future.
Creative expression helps define who people
are, and helps people see the world through
the eyes of others.
Culture provides important social and
economic be
Culture enhances our quality of life and
increases overall well-being for both
individuals and communities benefits.
References
Daniel, J., Cantor, J., Schor, B. (1987). Tunnel Vision: Labour, the world
Economy, & Central America. South End Press.

Evans, N & Levinson, S. (2009). The Myth of Language Universals:

Language Diversity and it’s Importance for Cognitive Science’.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 32, 429-492.

Gerber, L. (2011). Sociology. Toronto: Pearson.

Raeff, C., Fasoli, A.D., Reddy, V, & Mascolo, M.F. (2020). The concept of
culture: Introduction to spotlight series on conceptualizing culture.
Taylor & Francis.

Rostow, W.W. (1991). The Stages of economic growth. Cambridge

University Press.