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UCSP-Handouts-2

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19 views

UCSP-Handouts-2

Uploaded by

Destiny Rosas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Society - Refers to a group of people sharing common culture.


- It may also be defined as an organized group or groups of
people who generally share a common territory, language,
culture and who act together for collective survival and well –
being. The ways in which people depend upon one another
can be seen in the feature of their society, such as their
economic, communication and defense systems. They are also
bound together by a sense of common identity (Haviland, et.
Al.:312).

- “It is the complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices,


Culture values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge and
everything that a person learns and shares as a member of
society.” (Tylor 1920 [1871]).
- This is set of behaviour and the fact that humans are
characterized by them by virtue of being born as “human
beings” apart from other creatures in the animal kingdom
suggests the universal nature of the concept. They are
behaviours that people possess which other primates do not.

Society and Culture


- Since culture and society are closely related concepts,
anthropology and sociology study both.
- Society and culture are interrelated but have different meaning.
- Culture is a product of society.
- Society is composed of small groups.
- Culture and society exist independently in each other.

ASPECTS OF CULTURE

1. Culture is everything. It is what a person has, does and thinks as part of society. This implies all of a
person’s belief system, set of behaviours and material possessions. As such, it can be said that culture
is a powerful agent in shaping the decisions and actions of humans, given a situation. It consists of
the material and nonmaterial.
a) Material Culture – It includes all the tangible and visible parts of culture, which includes
clothes, food and even buildings. The types of material culture present in societies differ, as
each society is configured by its environment and history.

b) Nonmaterial Culture – It includes all the tangible parts of culture, which consist of values, ideas
and knowledge. Just like material culture, the belief and values systems of societies differ from
one another based on their environment and history.

2. Culture is learned. Culture is a set of beliefs, attitudes and practices that an individual learns
through his or her family, school, church, and other social institutions.

a) Enculturation – The process of learning your own culture. As you interact with your immediate
family and peers, you learn the values and accepted behaviours in your society.

b) Acculturation – Due to constant interaction between societies, culture can be modified to


accommodate desirable traits. This process is called acculturation.

c) Deculturation – When the culture of the older generation comes into conflict with the needs
and realities of the younger generation, deculturation happens, where the reason for the
culture has been lost and even the cultural itself is in the process of being forgotten.

3. Culture is shared. The set of behaviours, attitudes and beliefs that a person possesses is part of a
greater collection of values and ideas that is communally owned and practiced by members of a
society. This is implies that a particular behaviour cannot be considered as a culture if there is only
one person practicing it. Culture is shared intergenerationally. Hence, to share a culture, it must be
taught to members of contemporary society who will, in turn, teach the younger generation.

4. Culture affects biology. Human born unto cultures that have values on beauty and body. As such,
they alter their bodies to fit into physiological norms that are dictated by culture.

5. Culture is adaptive. Culture is a tool for survival that humans use in response to the pressures of their
environment. Both the material and the nonmaterial parts of culture are influenced by the goal of
humans to address their needs as dictated by their environment and their biology.
6. Culture is maladaptive. Culture can also cause problems for the people who subscribe to it. These
problem arise when the environment has changed and culture has remained the same.

7. Culture changes. The final characteristic of culture is that it is never static. This dynamism of culture
is due to the changing needs of humans as they interpret and survive in the environment. As such,
culture is continuously reinvented by people. From the clothes that we wear to the food that we eat,
culture can be seen as ever changing.

P.S.
A Reminder from St. Catherine of Siena:

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”

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