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UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLAINING SOCIAL REALITY (Society and Culture) - Coggle…
UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLAINING SOCIAL REALITY (Society and Culture)
Humans differ among themselves
Genetic
Language
Religion
Tradition
Human equation
Must sleep
Have kinship
Must eat
Must have shelter
Have an economic system aimed at survival
Develop some kind of social system
What makes human unique
Human have culture
Society can exist because of the human capacity for creating culture, sharing it with others in the group, and transmitting it to future generations.
Culture creates societies and societies depend on culture.
Cultural evolution is cultures have evolved thru a process of progressive change and cultures are always in a state of flux
Society and culture - Society is a body of individual living as member of a community.
Why have humans been able to develop culture?
Environmental change
Human evolution
Human biology qualitites
Human ability to create and use symbols.
Culture
: Everything that humans make, use, learn, know & believe. It is how they behave, what they share with each other and transmit to each new generation
Cultural evolution/cultural change
- Culture have evolved through a process of progressive change
Socialization
: The process that shapes the personalities of individuals so that they can adjust to and become members of society.
ELEMENT OF CULTURE
Social norms
- How most people think they and others should behave. -Norms are reflection of values and norms are rule of standard about the right or correct way to act
Folkways
: the simple everyday customs of a group that represent the usual ways of behaving.
Situational: Walking on one side of the sidewalk, going up and down stairs, on an elevator
Usually involve unimportant matters: table manners, accepting your place in line rather than cutting ahead, wearing appropriate clothing.
Mores
: Means “manners” in French. Mores are norms that are considered of extreme importance to a society; i.e. essential to a society’s values
Morays have serious consequences if violated – ranging from open disapproval to arrest and imprisonment
Examples: NZers do not eat horse, dog, cat; you do not expose your genitals in public
A
taboo
is a norm so strongly ingrained that to violate it creates disgust, revulsion, horror - the thought of it makes people sick:
Eating human flesh - cannibalism
Incest - having sex with relatives
Pedophilia - adults having sex with children
Social Values
- What most people think is good and right; the assumption that certain behaviours, actions or systems are good or right
Values determine for us what is desirable in our life
Values underline our preferences, our choice, indicate what we deem as worthwhile in our society
Value can be contradictory
Social values are the motivation that makes social institutions function effectively
Values can change over time
Values can vary within a society
What most people think is right and good
Material Product
- Cultural artifacts that are considered essential for society to function
Language
- Words + a system for their use, the meaning of which is shared and understood by people in the same community or cultural tradition
Allows us to transmit culture, by telling or writing
Allows culture to accumulate.
Social instituition
- Usually organise around a central interest or need of a group
The family
- Helps provide the basic needs of daily life
Education in instituition
- Provides a means to transmit culture & train new generations through formal education
Religious institutions
- So people can express their religious beliefs and join in worship with others who express similar beliefs
The economy
- Provides a means to obtain food, shelter and clothing
Government
- Provides peace and order around society
Social integration
- is the extent to which a society is internally consistent and homogenous; i.e. when norms, values, beliefs are in agreement society is considered to be well integrated
Subculture - in common interest such as
language
religion
gender
ethnicity
age
occupation
class …(or a combination of these)
Examples: students; lawyers; fishermen; the elderly; jazz musicians; divorced women
Counterculture - Opposition to those of the wider society
Reject or challenge convention. There are none conformists. Often follow a fashion or fad
Maybe associated with standards of dress, behaviour or threat to mainstream society
E.g. Computer hackers, terrorist group, gang delinquents, drug user and some music followers