Topic 1: Starting Points for UCSP Part I

What is Society? – composed of a group of people living together in a same geographical location sharing
similar cultures and norms.

- In other words, society composes the existing relationships between the individuals.
What is Culture? – Edward Burnett Tylor (English Anthropologist): “complex whole which
encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and
everything a person learn and shares as a member of society.”
What do we mean by ‘complex whole’? – these are factors that describe why society is a
big and complex whole
1. Artifacts – objects made by human beings, hand-made or mass produced
2. Arts and Recreation – art, music, dance, drama, literature, games, and
sports
3. Clothes – textiles, patterns in clothes, material of the clothing, style
4. Customs and Traditions – the things we do
5. Food – nutrition, medicinal herbs
6. Government
7. Religion – churches, Bibles, beliefs
8. Shelter – type, material of house, design, a structure that provides privacy
and protection
- Ways in which how humans live
Cultural Variation – differences in social behaviors that cultures exhibit around the world
Social Differences – situations where people are discriminated/categorized into. For example,
SOGIE, gender roles, socio-economic class, ethnicity, and/or race.
Social Change – any significant alteration over time in behavioral patterns, and cultural values
and norms brought about by modernization and globalization
Two Types of Culture
1. Material – tangible, physical objects
2. Non-material – nonphysical ideas that people have like beliefs, values, rules, norms,
morals, language, and institutions that shapes its members’ thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors
Cultural Lag – William F. Ogburn: time that elapses between the introduction of a new time of
material culture and its acceptance as part of non-material culture

Norms
- Define how society or its individuals shall behave in accordance to what society has
defined as good or bad or important
Types of Norms:
- Formal (Mores) – established and enforced laws
- Informal (Folkways) – casual behaviors that are widely conformed to, and are
acquired/learned through observation
- Taboo – a ‘norm’ that when thought of doing it, it evokes an extreme feeling of
disgust due to the action that is against one’s morale
What is Ethnocentrism? – thinks one’s own culture is superior than others, and fails to
understand other cultures are uniquely and distinctly different from one another
Forms of Ethnocentrism:
1. Prejudice – judgment with no basis or no personal experience
2. Extreme Nationalism – extreme loyalty to one’s own country and deems own country
superior than others which may result to rash actions just for their own country
3. Racism – discrimination towards people due to their race because one thinks their race
is better than theirs
Xenocentrism - preference of others’ culture, ideas, or products
Cultural Relativism – no culture is superior or lower compared to others, all cultures are
equally unique from each other, and their own culture serves as their identity
 Lesson 2: Starting Points for UCSP Part II
Social Science
- Science of People or collections of people such as firms, groups, societies, or
economies, and their individual and common behaviors.
Social Science is a branch of science is the study of societies and the relationships of the
individuals of the societies. Its core focus is the society as a whole, and the relationships and
interactions within these societies.

Anthropology
- Study of people throughout the World
1. History (Past & Present, Human Species/Evolvement)
2. Behavior
3. Adaptability
4. Social Skills
5. Linguistics/Language
- Scientific study of Humanity
- Understanding of Humanity both culturally and biologically
4 subfields of Anthropology
1. Archaeology
o Study of cultures in/from the past
o Examines past ways of life through material culture, organic remains, written
records, and oral traditions.
2. Biological/Physical Anthropology
o Deals with the evolution of the human body, mind, and behavior through the
study of fossils, comparisons of behaviors, and anatomy of other/past primate
species
o Primate means mammals that are characterized by hands and feet that grasp, a
relatively large complex brain, and vision in which objects are seen in three
dimensions
3. Cultural Anthropology
o Study of Culture, and people’s beliefs, practices, cognitive processes, and
organization of human groups in socializing
4. Linguistic Anthropology
o Role of language in the lives of the individuals and communities
o Delves into how language shapes communication, social identity, belongingness,
and establishment of beliefs and ideologies

Political Science: Science of the State

- the study of politics, government, and public policy, both in the U.S. and around the
world
1. John Jacobsohn - analyses of the state and the relations that people have with the
government
 2. Miriam Defensor-Santiago - “be as simple as paying a fine for a traffic violation, or as
complicated as running for the position of barangay chairman

What is a State?
- a community of persons more or less numerous, permanently occupying a specific
portion of territory, having a government of their own which the population obey and
respect, and enjoying freedom from external control
Philippines
- A unitary state - despite having different nations, all nations only have one government
- Presidential Representative
- Democratic Constitutional Republic
State is composed of 4 Elements:
1. People - inhabitants/population of the state. No people? No officials to govern and no
subjects to be governed.
2. Territory - fixed portion of land, air, and sea that the state has
jurisdiction/control/authority of
i. Territorial Domain (Land) - refers to the land mass occupied by the state
ii. Fluvial/Maritime Domain (Sea) - refers to internal or national waters and
external or territorial waters the state has jurisdiction over
iii. Aerial Domain (Air) - refers to airspace the state has jurisdiction over
according to the laws
3. Government - agency where will of the state/citizens is formulated, expressed, and
carried out; refers to the people whose roles are the political control of the state
- refers to the collective desire or agreement of the citizens within a state,
and also includes their views on laws, policies, and how a government
should function
i. primary entity responsible for representing the interests of the state
ii. acts as the representative of the state, making decisions based on the
collective will of the citizens, communicating these decisions to the public,
and ensuring they are carried out through various agencies
4. Sovereignty - supreme power/authority of the state to command and enforce obedience
to its will from people within its jurisdiction to have freedom from foreign/outsiders’
control
Summary:
a. Permanent population
b. Specific area of territory
c. Government
d. Capacity to involve the states into relations with other states

Sociology
➔ study of groups and its interactions, societies and its social interactions
 ➔ sociologists are interested in the experiences of the individuals and how these
experiences are shaped by the interactions with social groups and society; want to know
and observe people
➔ sociologists study social facts: how the aspects of social life shape a human’s behavior
➔ studies society in different levels:
◆ Micro - small groups and individual interactions
◆ Macro - the trends among the larger groups

Sociological Imagination
- Charles Wright Mills (1959): …

Perspectives explain the manner of interaction of the members of the society.

Why are perspectives important?
Sociological Perspective - allows sociologists to analyze social phenomena at different levels
and in different perspectives
Social phenomena - refers to the interactions between and among individuals,
and to the characteristics, structures, and functions of social groups and
institutions, such as families, communities, schools, and workplaces, as well as
the physical, economic, cultural, and policy environments

Structural-Functionalist Perspective
- a theory that focuses on the patterning of roles, form of institutions, and overall
articulations of the institutions in a society, and explains how these structures’ functions
contribute to the society
- theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote
solidarity and stability
- share sets of rules and values to maintain balanced harmonious system
- all social institutions of the society have functions to help maintain its stability
- How to achieve stability: make sure all social institutions are working properly
Proponents of this Perspective:
1. Emile Durkheim - French sociologist; believed that society is a complex system of
interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability, and he also
believed that society is held together by values, languages, and symbols
2. Robert Merton (1910-2003) - American sociologist; father of modern sociology
a. Manifest Functions - consequences of a social process that are anticipated
b. Latent Functions - unsought or ‘not prepared for’ consequences
What is Dysfunction?
An undesirable consequence of a society

Social Conflict Perspective

 - envisions society as an arena of inequality that makes conflict and changes
- Class conflict and exploitation: prime moving force of mankind
- Struggle for Power and Wealth: continuous process between and among categories of
people
- competition for limited resources
- those with more power controls the ones with less power
- How to achieve stability: Proletariat must take control over the bourgeoisie
Two important concepts to understand in relation to Conflict Theory
1. Class Consciousness - awareness by a social or economic class of their position and
interests within the structure of the economic order and social system in which they live
2. False Consciousness - a perception of one's relationships to social and economic
systems of an individual nature, and a failure to see oneself as a part of a class with
particular class interests relative to the economic order and social system

Proponents
1. Karl Marx (1818-1883) - german philosopher; saw society as made up of individuals in
different class who has to compete for social, material, and political resources; focused
on the conflict of two primary classes
Two types of Classes
1. Bourgeoisie - group of people in a society who have wealth and means
2. Proletariat - people considered

Symbolic Interactionism
- envisions society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals
- Communication (exchange of meaning through language and symbols): the way of how
people make sense of their social world
- humans use symbols to communicate
- How to maintain stability: members of society must share common meanings of symbols
Proponents
1. George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) - founder of the perspective
2. Herbert Blumer - student of mead; made up the name of the perspective; “humans
interact with things based on meanings/purpose assigned to them”; and “. the meanings
of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances”
3. Erving Goffman (1922-1982) - dramaturgical analysis; used theater as an analogy for
social interaction and recognized that people’s interactions showed patterns of cultural
‘scripts’; used theater as an analogy because it can be unclear what he or she may play
in a given situation, they have to improvise their role as the situation unfolds.
 Lesson 3: Becoming a Member of Society
What is a Social Group? – Two or more humans that interact with one another, share similar
characteristics, and have a collective sense of unity.
- Social groups can be very diverse. Can vary from the close tight-knitted friendships to
workplace colleagues.
2 types of Social Groups according to Social Ties:
1. Primary Groups - A necessary unit/part of Human Society
 Dos and Don’ts of behavior are learned here
 Personal, intimate, and long-lasting
 “First Influencers”
 Families, gangs, play groups, friends
 Composed of individuals that engage in direct, frequent, and significant
relationships
- Characteristics of a Primary Group
 To develop personality
 To develop efficiency of members
 To satisfy total needs of individuals
 To provide love, security, belongingness, and companionship to one
another
 Strong sense of personal connection
2. Secondary Groups – groups where the individual comes later in life
 The need of other people for the complex needs of oneself
 Industrial workers, business associates, faculty staff, company
employees
 Crucial process that happens in our life
 Task-Oriented and Goal Driven
 Connections may dissolve once common goal is achieved or
completed
- Characteristics of a Secondary Group
 Non-intimate; no physical closeness
 Business-like
 Formed for a purpose
 Self-Independence
 Interactions are based on self-interests or a specific intention
 Members’ roles in groups depends on their status
- Importance
 Satisfies the needs of an individual
 Increase efficiency of work through rules
 Widens outlook of people in groups
Social Groups
 In-groups – a social unit where an individual feels at home and where they identify
themselves; an individual feels a sense of belonging
 Out-groups – a social unit where an individual does not belong due to different
social categories in which they do not identify in
  Reference or Psychological Group – groups we refer to unconsciously or
consciously when we evaluate life situations and behavior but to which we don’t
necessarily belong to; influence someone has on us when it comes to making
decisions
Networks
 Social structure that exists between actors and individuals, or organizations
 An actor participating in a network is: NODE
 Various types of connections between nodes: TIES
 Sociology: refers to a pattern of social relationships among individuals and groups
o Factors: friendship, familial relations, professional ties (work colleagues), or
shared interests
 Patterns of connections in a network can influence behaviors, beliefs, and access to
opportunities.

What is Socialization?
 Social process through which we develop our personalities and human potential, and
learn about society and culture.
 A lifelong experience
 A process where an individual has to acquire and learn all the necessary social roles
and skills required as a competent member of their society
PRIMARY SOCIALIZATION – first experiences with language, values, beliefs, behaviors, and
the norms of your society
 Parents & Guardians are our first teachers
SECONDARY SOCIALIZATION – Process wherein children learn to socialize outside at home,
but within their society. For example, at the school.

ANTICIPATORY SOCIALIZATION
- The social process where people learn to take on the values and standards of groups
they plan to join
Gender Socialization – learning the psychological and physical traits associated with a
person’s gender
Race Socialization – process through which children learn behaviors, values, and attitudes
associated with different races
Class Socialization – teaches the norms, values, traits, and behaviors you develop based on
the social class you’re in; contributes to the degree of status, power and perks people enjoy or
lack in their daily lives
-
‘Hidden Curriculum’ in Schools - The hidden curriculum is all the things that student pick up
throughout their academic career that is not explicitly taught as part of the formal curriculum.
They can include social lessons, work habits, values and perceptions
Peer Groups – social group whose members have interests, social position, and the same age
James Coleman’s study of teenage social groups in the 1950s
- Social Prescription – behaviors expected from people in types of groups

What happens if one doesn’t experience or undergo socialization?

Feral Children (or Wild Children) – little to no experience of socializing with other people and
were deprived of human care and love, isolated from people at a young age

Agents of Socialization – teach us what we need to know in order to effectively participate in our
community and society, preparing to live up to the expectations of people.
 Family – most important agent of socialization
 School – school and classroom rituals led by the teachers serving as role models to
regularly enforce to students what society expects from them
 Peer Groups – made up of people who are similar in age, social status, and who share
interests.
 Mass Media – mass media distribute impersonal information to a wide audience via
television, newspapers, radio, and the internet.
Role and the Presentation of the Self
 Roles and statues are building blocks of social interaction
 Status – recognized set of social positions that an individual occupies
o A student, child, customer, colleague, peer, etc.
o Ascribed roles: status you cannot select or is already a pre-determined status.
Example – daughter/ son of our parents
o Achieved: status which can be obtained by choice
Example – quitting high school on a whim due to stress, build yourself as a
business worker
 Roles – set of social behaviors expected from someone who fills a particular status
o Studying, taking exams, graduating, etc.
Example of Status + Role
As our parents’ children (status), we are expected to help and respect our parents (role).

Social Deviance – “law breaking” behavior

- Recognized violation of norms
Categories of Social Deviance
- Crime - violation of norms enacted by law
- Nonconformity – people who have a different behavior compared to everyone.
Tendency of a person to defy social norms and act according to their desires for
self-expression or self-interest. Howard Becker (American Sociologist)
Socialization + Social Deviance?
- Socialization process is aimed at internalizing cultural norms and values in order to train
competent and productive members of the society.
- The end goal of socialization is to create individuals who know how to fit themselves in
their social groups

Sanctions
- Positive – rewards given for conforming to norms or following the ‘rules’
- Negative – punishments given for violating norms
- Informal – emerge face-to-face interactions and are casually enforced
- Formal – ways to officially recognize and enforce norm violations
INFORMAL FORMAL
POSITIVE An expression of thanks Received an award during
school graduation
NEGATIVE Gossiping, social isolation Legal punishments for
wrongful acts

Biological Factors
Cesar Lombroso (Italian criminologist, phrenologist, physician, and founder of the Italian school
of criminology) – prisoners have similar ‘animalistic’ features on them
o Believed that criminality is inherited, and can be identified by their physical
defects that confirms that they are savage
Charles Goring – refuted Lombroso’s claims

Personality Factors – ‘deviants’ are viewed as a result of ‘unsuccessful’ socialization

Walter Reckless and Simon Dinitz (American criminologists) – found out that ‘good boys’ have a
strong conscience, can handle frustration, and are identified with conventional cultural
norms/values. The same could not be said about ‘bad boys’
Deviance varies according to the social norms – no though or action is immediately deviant;
it only becomes deviant if it doesn’t conform to particular social norms. Because norms vary
from place to place, deviancy also varies.
People become deviant as others define them that way – everyone’s violated their social
norms at one time or another. Whether such behaviors defines us as mentally ill or criminal, it
depends on how others perceive, define, and respond to it. Deviants adapt to deviancy as they
morph into the behavior, action, or attitude associated with ‘deviants’

Four Essential Functions of Deviance According to Emile Durkheim

Deviance affirms cultural values and norms – defiance is needed to define and support morality
Responding to deviance clarifies cultural
boundaries – by defining some individuals as
deviant, people draw a boundary between right
or wrong.
Responding to deviance brings people together
– people react to deviance with shared rage.
Durkheim explained that the moral ties bring
people together.
Deviance encourages social change – deviant
people pushes society’s moral boundaries,
suggestive alternatives to the norms and
encouraging changes

Robert Merton’s Social Strain Theory – social strain theory states that social structures may
pressure people to do crimes.

Labelling Theory –
society’s labelling on
behaviors as deviant
causes deviant behavior
Anomie Theory –
deviance exists when
people are denied
access to accepted
means to reach their
goals
Differential Association
Theory – deviance is
created through
socialization of norms
within a community or
group
 Topic 4: State, Nonstate, and Educational Institutions

State Institutions – organizations established and operated by the government of a country

- Supported by the tax revenues and other incomes of the government
- Plays a crucial role in managing a state’s various aspects
- Primary Purpose: provide essential services, infrastructures, and serves the public
interest by implementing laws and regulations
Examples:
- Philippine Government
- Executive – overall governance of the state; responsible for implementation and
administration of laws and policies (the President and Vice President)
- Legislative – responsible for the creation, amendment, and repeal of laws to
ensure government system is balanced and functional
- Judicial – responsible for interpreting and applying the law, resolves conflicts,
and ensures justice in a society and safeguards the citizens’ rights
- Central Banks (a state institution but operates independently from the
government)
- Responsible for the currency stability, controls the inflation and monetary policy,
interest rates, and oversees the money supply of the country or groups of
countries
Nonstate Institutions – organizations not working with or not under the government and its
departments. These institutions are private, voluntary, and most often has an objective or
mission to operate.
Examples:
- Banks: receive deposits, make loans, provide financial services
- Commercial Banks (Public): manages withdrawals and receives deposits,
supplies short-term loans to individuals and small businesses
- Investment Banks (Private/Formal/Higher Level): handle financial transactions
and advisory services of corporations, governments, and other large
organizations
- Central Banks (a state institution but acts independently from
government): Responsible for the currency stability, controls the inflation
and monetary policy, interest rates, and oversees the money supply of the
country or groups of countries
- Corporations: created to conduct business, engage in commercial activities, and pursue
profits
- Cooperatives: created to achieve common economic, social, or cultural goals, and
owners and operators are either the users or producers of the co-op’s goods
- Trade/Labor Unions: protects the rights and interests of the workers through negotiation
with employers to secure better wages, working conditions, and benefits.
- Transnational Advocacy Groups (NGOs): brings together individuals from different
countries to promote specific causes, address global issues, and achieve common
goals.
- Development Agencies: promote economic, social, and environmental progress in
countries or regions to contribute to the improvement of living standards, reduce poverty,
and foster sustainable development.
 - Intergovernmental Organizations: established to collaborate, coordinate, and cooperate
with other fellow states to work on common issues or goals such as their peace and
security, economic development, human rights, and environmental protection.
- United Nations: founded in 1945 to collaborate with other countries in addressing
global challenges, fostering diplomacy, and promoting international law to build a
peaceful, secure, and sustainable world
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): established on August 8, 1967
in Bangkok, Thailand to promote cooperation and integration among its member
states, enhance economic development, and maintain peace and stability in SE
Asian countries with different historical, political, and economic backgrounds.
(Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, and Vietnam).
- European Union: only takes actions on issues that cannot be managed at a
national or local level, or in other words, if the issue can be managed by the other
organizations/countries more efficiently or much better, they will let them work on
it. Lastly, they will not take actions that exceeds what needs to be done for the
achievement of their goals to avoid going beyond boundaries, and to ensure its
actions are focused and not too much.
Education – process of teaching the belief, knowledge, and skills from one generation to the
next.
Manifest Functions
- Socialization
- Transmission/Knowledge of cultures and skills
- Individuals conform to the established normal and values
Latent Functions
- Development of social inequalities (isolation, poor education to low-socio-economic
individuals, geographical locations)
- Development of Social Networks (can lead to cyber/bullying/online harassment,
distraction from academics, privacy invasions)
- Development of ideologies (refers to a group’s beliefs on how something should
act/operate)
Women in Education – always have been at a disadvantage when it comes to education
opportunities due to the following:
 Stereotypes (women are emotional thus unable to focus, ‘girly/feminine/a
woman’ therefore will not be allowed to work, men are better leaders
because they are the ‘alpha’ or ‘dominant’)
 Harassment (women are seen as ‘weak’ and therefore are taken
advantage) – either verbal, nonverbal, or physical
 Low number of women in powerful positions or with strong influence, or
high/respectable positions/jobs
Educational Institutions – to provide a structured and organized environment for learning to
develop individuals capable of contributing to the society and to handle the challenges of the
future.
Education in the Context of Globalization
- Worldwide discussions, processes, and institutions affecting local educational practices
and policies
Education has been a Business – universities are competitive in marketing its programs
and scholarships, thus students are the consumers in marketing terms

Managerialism – dependence on (professional) managers to run the organization

Is Education a Human Right?

- Yes, according to Article 26 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
“Everyone has the right to their education”
- In the Philippines, education is a primary right to its citizens
- Everyone has the right to access quality education (primary, secondary, and higher
education) without discrimination
 Topic 5: Social Stratification
Social Stratification – existing system in a society wherein individuals are categorized or
‘labeled’ into different social classes
Social Classes – Groups of people who share the same rank/position/status/control/wealth