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Gns 111-103 Week Seven

This document discusses key concepts in culture including folkways, mores, norms, values, and laws. It defines each concept and provides examples. Folkways are traditional behaviors that are learned and shared within a social group. Mores are strongly held norms regarding morality. Norms are informal social guidelines for acceptable behavior. Values are moral principles that guide cultural beliefs and traditions. Laws are formal rules created by legislatures or courts that govern behavior in society and are enforced through punishment.

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70 views11 pages

Gns 111-103 Week Seven

This document discusses key concepts in culture including folkways, mores, norms, values, and laws. It defines each concept and provides examples. Folkways are traditional behaviors that are learned and shared within a social group. Mores are strongly held norms regarding morality. Norms are informal social guidelines for acceptable behavior. Values are moral principles that guide cultural beliefs and traditions. Laws are formal rules created by legislatures or courts that govern behavior in society and are enforced through punishment.

Uploaded by

davidoluwadimu28
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND

CULTURE
GNS 111/103
CGNS DEPARTMENT

PROF. C. A. ONIFADE
DR. S. N. ATATA

1
CULTURE
Folkway

The word Folkway was coined by an American sociologist, William


Graham Sumner.

Folkway is a learned behaviour, shared by a social group that provides a


traditional mode of conduct.

Folkways are recognized ways of behaviour in a society which arise


automatically within a group to meet the problems of social living.
Folkway
Folkways are passed on from one generation to another. An individual
receives folkways from his ancestors, parents, grandparents.

Although folkways are less binding in the society, people are expected to
behave according to social standards.

Example- girls, ladies, women are expected to sit down with their legs closed,
eating etiquette, washing hands before eating etc.
Mores
The term mores is derived from the Latin word ‘mos’ which stands for
customs and just as customs cannot be violated by any individual so mores
also cannot be violated without incurring severe punishment.

They present to us the most accepted and the most standardized ways of
doing things. Mores defines when an act is moral or immoral.

They are regulative and therefore it is essential for the members of a group to
conform to the mores. Example dressing pattern, killing-murder (in many
societies, the culprit is sentenced to life imprisonment or death by hanging)
etc.
Norms

A norm is a group-held belief about how members should behave in a


given society. Sociologists describe norms as informal understandings that
govern individuals' behaviour in a society.

Norms are social guidelines that regulate correct behaviour in the society.

Norms serve as social guidelines for what is acceptable and what is not
within a culture. Social norms range in degree of importance and differ
from society to society.
Norms
It is usually a non-written law that people obey.

For instance, in Nigeria, people greeting a person who is either older or


socio-economically above them, collecting something from an older
person with the right hand, Christian ladies covering their hair in church
etc.

It is not a law, it is norm. But anybody who goes contrary to the norms in
the society is regarded a deviant.
Values
Values are set of moral principles that define the traditions and cultural
beliefs that offer guidelines to people to conduct themselves in society.

Values relate to the norms of a culture, but they are more global and
abstract than norms.

Values are essential components of non-material culture.


Values
Values identify what should be judged as good or evil, wrong or right,
while norms provide rules for behaviour in specific situations.

For instance, incest taboo, stealing, immorality etc. are values many
societies frown at, reciting the national anthem before a football match is a
norm, but it reflects the value of patriotism.
Laws
Law is a system of rules that are enforced through social institutions to
govern behaviour.

Laws can be made by legislatures through legislation, the executive through


decrees and regulations, or judges through binding precedent (normally in
common law jurisdictions).

Laws are made to govern the behaviour of people in the society.

Deviants are usually punished according to the laws in the society to


maintain social order .
ANY QUESTION?

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