Course:

Introduction to sociology3.00 Credit Hours, Fall 2013,

Undergraduate ProgramInstructor: Ghulam Fouzia

Date:17-01-2014SESSION 6

© www.uogsialkot.edu

Mores and Folkways

Mores:Norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance.

They distinguish between right and wrong

E.g:

Folkways:Norms for routine or casual interaction

Folkways draws a distinction between right and rude

E.g:Social Control:These are the attempts by society to regulate people’s thought and behavior.Shame: the painful sense that others disapprove of our actionsGuilt: The negative judgment we make of ourselves .

Ideal and Real Culture:Ideal culture includes the patterns ,norms and values which

we desire to have in a cultureE.g: the equal rights fro all, equal distribution of resources

equal opportunities despite any gender discrimination etc…

The cultural patterns which actually exist in any society either positive or negative

E.g: the judicial system of Pakistan.

Artifacts:These are the wide range of tangible human creationArtifacts reflect underlying cultural values.Technology:“Knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their

surroundings” .E.g: Automobiles, electronics etc…Societies with high technologies are supposed to be more

advanced as compared to the societies who didn’t posess latest technology.

High and Popular Culture:The cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elites.E.g: Playing Golf, Horse race, using cigar etc…Popular Culture includes the patterns that are widespread

among a society’s population.E.g: playing cards, playing cricket, smoking etc…Sociologists disagree with both concepts because1: Neither elites not ordinary people share all the same

interests or taste 2: We may praise elites on the basis of money, power

Sub cultures

• Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society’s population like surfers, polish Americans , jazz, musician..etc

• Almost everyone participates in many subcultures without having much commitment in any of them.

• Sometimes these separation in subcultures cause tragic consequences.

• These subcultures also cause tensions.• Subcultures involves not just differences but hierarchy

too…

Multiculturalism

•Educational program recognizing the cultural diversity of the united states and promoting the equality of all cultural traditions.

•Migration plays an important role in forming new way of life.

Eurocentirism:The dominance of European cultural patterns.

Continu……Afrocentrism:• The dominance of African cultural patternsCriticism:• It encourages divisiveness rather than unity,

urging people to identify with their own category rather than with the nation as a whole.

• Our common humanity dissolves in the cultures.• It harms minorities because it seems to endorse

the racial segregation that may deprive the individuals from their basic rights.

Counter Culture:The cultural patterns that strongly oppose those

widely accepted within a society.

Cultural Change

Culture changes with the passage of time.Change in any segment or dimension of culture usually

sparks changes in others.Cultural Integration:The close relationship among the various segments of the

culture.Cultural Lag:The fact that some cultural elements change more quickly

than others, disrupting a cultural system.

Causes of Cultural Change

Invention:• The process of creating new cultural elements• Invention has changed the cultures Discovery:• Recognizing the better understanding something

already in existenceDiffusion:• Spread of cultural traits from one society to another

Conti……..

Ethnocentrism:• The process of judging other cultures by the

standards of one’s own culture.• Ethnocentrism also generate misunderstanding and

some times conflict.Cultural Relativism:The practice of evaluating a culture by its own

standards.

• It can be difficult to adopt because it not only requires openness and readiness to unfamiliar norms and values but also the suspension of cultural standards we have known all our lives.

• Cultural relativism has its problems too.Xenocentrism:• Culturally based tendency to value other cultures

more highly than one’s own cultures. Like different brands we use or give more preference to foreign products…..etc.

Conti…………

Wall Street Journal

How We Learn Culture: SocializationThree stages of socialization

Primary socialization—of infants and young children by the family and early care-givers

Secondary socialization—in childhood and adolescence, by the school, the religious affiliation, the peer group, the neighborhood, and the media

Adult socialization—the workplace, travel, assuming new roles in life

Some Results of Socialization

Because the process of socialization is intended to cause individuals to internalize knowledge, attitudes, values, and beliefs, it has several results which should not be surprising:

Ethnocentrism Perception Categorization Stereotypes

Some Results of Socialization

Because the process of socialization is intended to cause individuals to internalize knowledge, attitudes, values, and beliefs, it has several results which should not be surprising:

Ethnocentrism Perception Categorization Stereotypes

Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the tendency people have to evaluate others according to their own standards and experience

While this tendency can help bind people together, it can also present serious obstacles to cross-cultural interactions

Perception

Stimuli received by our senses would overwhelm us if it weren’t somehow reduced; thus…

What we perceive—what we see, hear, feel, taste, and smell—is shaped in part by our culture.

Categorization Categorization is the

cognitive process by which all human beings simplify their world by grouping similar stimuli.

Our categories give meaning to our perceptions.

A prototype image best characterizes the meaning of a category.

Example: for the category “bird,” we usually think of robins, not chickens

Stereotypes

Stereotypes are socially-constructed categories of people.

They usually obscure differences within groups.

They are frequently negative, and play to ethnocentric ideas of “the other.”

Some Limits on Socialization

While socialization is a powerful process, it does have limits. It is limited by a child’s physical limits.It is limited because it is never finished, and thus

never absolute; it can be changed.It is limited because human beings are not passive

recipients, but also actors in their environments.

Understanding Cultural Differences

In a complex, pluralistic society like the United States, all people are in some way multicultural.

While we all draw on common sources of knowledge, we are socialized by different agents, with different perspectives on that knowledge.

The Culture-Learning Process (Figure 2.3)

Variations in Cultural Environments

Although the sources of cultural identity are the same in all society, the content in those sources may be different.

Moreover, each community varies considerably in the number and character of its socializing agents.

Continued…

Given this complexity, it is wise to consider the immense variation of possible cultural elements in our own lives and in the lives of others.

Despite this enormous potential for variation among individuals and within groups, there are similarities or generalizations that can be made about individuals who identify with particular groups.

What is needed is a more sophisticated way of looking at diversity.