DEFINING CULTURE AND SOCIETY FROM

THE PERSPECIVE OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND

SOCIOLOGY
Guide Question:
How are culture and society defined
from the perspectives of
Anthropology and Sociology?
Topics to be covered
• Define society
• Define culture
• Aspects of culture
• Classification of culture
• Elements of culture
• Characteristics of culture
Ethnocentricism/Xenocentrism and Cultural
Relativism
Agents of Socialization and Enculturation
Appreciation of our differences starts with the
acknowledgement of our similarities”
- Peter Reese

“We talk a lot and pretty well about race, but we don’t
listen enough. And I’m hoping that if we listen to
each other, we can begin to make this society of
ours into less and less of a country of strangers.”
- David Shipler
Think – Pair – Share
• What makes us unique?
• What makes us different and similar
from each other?
The word CULTURE is derived from latin
word Cultus meaning CIVILIZATION.

SOCIETY is a web of social relationship

- Maclver
-advancement, progress, enlightenment ,
culture, refinement, sophistication
• Society Latin word “Societas” derived
from the noun socius means comrade
or friend.
“Culture refers to the complex whole
which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts,
morals, law, custom and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man
as a member of society.”
- Sir Edward Taylor
Culture is a lens through which we view
the world and us. It is also a filter that
are (mostly) unaware that modifies our
perception of reality. Cultures is given to
us from ancestors and we recreate it
through interaction with other people.
Three Faces of Culture
• Internalization
• Objective reality – when institution
passed to the next generation
• Externalization
As we go from place to place, we will note
differences in behavior and beliefs among people
with regard dressing, food and cooking, love,
courtship, marriage practices, way of worshipping
God, earning a living, leisure time activities and the
like. The Chinese, Japanese, the Indians, the
Arabs, the Americans, the Russians people in
general – are brought up differently, thus they
acquire different ways of behaving. There ways of
behaving peculiar to group of people comprise
what sociologist call CULTURE.
ASPECTS OF CULTURE
• HISTORY – time periods and conditions under
which a group experienced significant events that
influenced behavior
• SOCIAL STATUS FACTORS – education,
occupation, income
• SOCIAL GROUP INTERACTION
PATTERNS - Intra-Group (within relations) and
Inter-group (between – group relations)
• RELIGION - spiritual beliefs and practices
• ARTS and EXPRESSIVE FORMS – art,
music, stories, dance etc.
• DIET/FOODS - preferred food eaten by groups
• RECREATION – activities, sports for leisure,
etc.
• CLOTHING – types, styles, and extent of body,
covering.
• VALUES ORIENTATION - Standards by
which a members of a culture consider what is
important and what to be upheld or to be
disapproved, through value orientation people
judge their personal actions and those of others.
• LANGUAGE and COMMUNICATION –
verbal and non-verbal
• FAMILY LIFE PROCESSES - gender roles,
family dynamics
• HEALING BELIEFS AND PRACTICES –
Attitudes and beliefs about health
TYPES OF CULTURE
• Material – includes physical objects or artifacts
that human being create by altering the natural
environment. They are easy to observe are often
impressive.
• Non-material – non-tangible or without
physical representation and these are called non-
material culture which can be categorized into
cognitive and normative non-material culture . They
consists of words, people use, the habits they
follow, the ideas, customs, behavior, laws,
techniques, lifestyle and knowledge that society
posses and to which it strives to.
Elements of Culture
• Beliefs are conceptions or ideas of people have
about what is true in the environment around them
like what is life, how to value it, and how one’s
belied on the value of life relates with his or her
interaction with others and the world.
• Values described what is appropriate or
inappropriate
• People live in culture wherein symbols are used
to understand each other.
• Language is a shared
• Technology
• Norms
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
1. Norms – are guides or models of behavior
which tell us what is appropriate/proper or
inappropriate right or wrong.
• They set limits within which individuals may seek
alternatives or ways to achieve their goals.
• Regulate people’s bahavior in a given society,
usually in the form of rules, standards, or
prescriptions followed by people in society.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
a. Folkways – are alternative ways or patterns of
everyday life that specify what is socially correct
and proper in everyday life. They are repetitive or
typical habits and patterns of expected behavior
followed within a group or community.
b. Mores – are seen as extremely important and are
considered vital for the group’s welfare and
survival while folkways specify correct and proper
behavior. Mores define what is morally right and
morally wrong.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
c. Laws – are norms that are enforced formally by a
special political organization. They are formalized
social norms enacted by people who have been
vested by authority.
d. Values – represent personal or socially preferrable
modes of conduct or states of existence that are
enduring. Ex. Why doesn’t McDonald’s sell
hamburgers in India?
- value orientation – achievement and success
activity and work moral orientation and
humanitarianism efficiency and practicality.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
e. Taboo – is a norm ingrained so deeply in people’s
consciousness that even thinking about violating it
evokes strong feeling of disgust, horror, or
revulsion for most people.
f. Sanctions – are social control mechanisms
enforced either positively or negatively (i.e. as
reward ( to people who follow norms) or
punishment for violators. Sanctions help increase
conformity to values and norms and thus establish
greater social cohesion.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
2. Language - refers to a system of symbols that
have specific and arbitrary meaning in a given
society.
The Sapir – Whorf hypothesis. “What is present in
language is an articulation of what is experienced
in culture.” In other words, a people may give a
name to what they experience in culture the way
they experience it, and that name becomes part of
their language. Hence, language structures
thought, and a people’s ways of looking at the
world are embedded in language.
Characteristics of Culture
 Culture is Learned – becomes part of
awareness and action.
 Culture is Acquired and transmitted –
thru social interaction
 Culture is Social - widespread
 Culture is Ideational – prescribed norms
 Culture is Gratifying – satisfies human needs
(psychological, emotional needs through religion,
magic)
 Culture is Adaptive – capacity to adjust to
changing times and situations.
Characteristics of Culture
 Culture is Integrative – support from
different elements of culture (ex. Beliefs, values,
and behavior or becoming a good citizen)
 Culture is Cumulative – cultural elements
accumulate (ex. Language, technology)
Agents of Socialization and Enculturation
• The Family – primary agent of socialization of
an individual upon birth throughout infancy, and up
to childhood. Parents and other family members
are essential for the early care and development of
the child, and as child matures, the family becomes
an important venue for social engagement and
political socialization.
• Schools – schools have a critical and active role
in socialization, as their various academic and
social activities mold students’ beliefs, values, and
attitudes. Schools teach students important values
like competitiveness, cooperation, conformity,
innovation, punctuality, orderliness, and respect for
authority.
Agents of Socialization and Enculturation
• Peers Groups – also reinforce acceptable
behaviors introduced by the family and school,
allow a certain degree of independence from family
and a certain figures of authority, and are also
means for socialization and involvement in social
and political issues. Peer groups refer to people
who share the same interests or characteristics
such as age and social background.
• Mass Media – includes forms of
communicatioon such as books, magazines,
newspapers, other print materials, radio, television,
and movies. It a powerful agent of socialization
which is widely used by many institutions and
organizations involved in the use of print and
electronic communications.
Agents of Socialization and Enculturation
The relationship of media as and politics is very
complex, and scholars have varied views regarding
how mass media influences and shapes people’s
attitudes and behavior.
• The Pluralist model – portrays media as an
ideological marketplace that enhances debate and
electoral choice.
• Market model – suggests that media reflects the
view of general public, and that media presents
what they thinkthe people want. ( reality show,
telenovelas)
• The Dominant-ideology model traces this bias to
link between media and the political and social
elite. .
Agents of Socialization and Enculturation
• The Dominant-ideology and elite-values models –
put emphasis on the influence of bias in the
activities of media institutions.
• Religion and State – both religion and state
considered as ultimate sources of authority, making
the church an government important agents of
socialization. Religion exerts a great influence on
the views of a person, legitimizes accepted social
practices, provides stability to society.
• Major Social and Historical Events – can
also be significant socializing forces for an entire
generation. The changes and developments
brought about by historical events often cause
transformations in the values, attitudes, and views
that define societies, leading to further changes
Conformity, Deviance, and Social
Control
• Conformity – refers to the process of altering
one’s thoughts and actions to adapt to the
accepted behavior within his or her group or
society.
• exert great influence on an individual’s thoughts, values,
attitudes, and behavior. They also provide a sense of
identity and belongingness that enable the person to
relate fully with other groups members.
Deviance
• Defined as a behavior that elicits a strong negative
reaction from group members and involves actions
that violate commonly held social norms.
• What may be considered normal behavior in one
culture may be considered deviant behavior in
others.
Social Control
• Defined as any systematic means and practices
used to maintain norms, rules, and laws; regulate
conflict; and discourage deviant behavor. Sanctions
are the most common means of social control, and
are often employed to address conflicts and
violations of social norms. Sanctions can be formal
or informal .
• Formal provided for by laws and other regulations
• Informal are most commonly imposed by smaller
societies, communities or groups.
TYPES OF SOCIETY
CATEGORIES CHARACTERISTICS

These are the earliest form of society, they are small

Hunting and and generally with less than 50 members and
gathering societies nomadic. The members survive primarily by hunting,
trapping, fishing, and gathering edible plants. The
family determines the distribution of food and how to
socialize children. Members are mutually dependent
upon each other and although there is equal division
of labor among the members of hunting and gathering
societies, there is division of labor based on sex,
wherein men are responsible for hunting and women
are gatherers.
They rely on products obtained through the
Pastoral societies domestication and breeding of animals for
transportation and food.
TYPES OF SOCIETY
CATEGORIES CHARACTERISTICS
They are common in areas where crops cannot be
Pastoral societies supported and only have to move where the land in
which the animals graze is no longer usable. They
also allow for job specialization, since not everyone is
needed to gather or hunt for food.
Horticultural These societies rely on the cultivation of fruits,
societies vegetables, and plants in order to survive. They often
forced to relocate when the resources of the land are
depleted or when the water supplies decrease.
Agricultural They rely on the use of technology in order to
societies cultivate crops in large areas, including wheat, rice,
and corn. Productivity increases, and as long as there
is plenty of food, people do not have to move. This
time, towns form, and then cities emerged.
Specialization increases, and the economy becomes
more complex.
TYPES OF SOCIETY
CATEGORIES CHARACTERISTICS
They uses advanced sources of energy to run large
Industrial societies machinery which led to industrialization innovations in
transportation led people to travel, work in factories
and live in cities. Occupational specialization became
even more pronounced and a person’s vocation
became more an identifier than his or her family ties,
as was common in nonindustrial societies.
Post-industrial Their economy/ies based on services and technology,
societies not production. The economy is dependent on
tangible goods, people must pursue greater
education, and the web communications technology
allows work to be performed from a variety of
locations.