Culture and identity booklet 1

?
  • Created by: AnnabellP
  • Created on: 19-12-17 08:56

What is sociology?

  • Systematic study of human groups and social lives
  • Study of social institutions
  • Social institutions: - family: relationships - education: passing on attitudes, knowledge and skills - work/economy: production of goods - religion: relations with supernatural - law: controlling and regulating behaviour
  • Relations and links
  • Describing/explaining patterns of inequality, deprivation and conflict
1 of 24

Sociology and common sense

  • Challenging everyday explanation/understandings
  • Find hidden motives, causes and consequences
  • Not all undermine common sense
  • Sociological imagination: - different angles - re-examine existing assumptions
  • Evidence on issues: precise, research procedures
  • Objectivity: - value freedom - open mind - keep personal beliefs out of research process
2 of 24

Becoming human: sociology and naturalistic explana

  • Naturalistic: innate biological characteristics, instincts
  • Now: genes, gender differences
  • Human behaviour: too complex and diverse
  • Maybe result of other factors other than biology and genes
  • Culture teaches us how to think and act
3 of 24

Meanings and Values

  • Meanings: Hall 1997 [cultural: language, symbols, express emotions and thoughts][shared: social groups build up shared understandings][new meanings: contant new meanings and revising old ones, process]
  • Values: important, principles, standards, honesty, consideration, justice, fairness
4 of 24

Norms and socialisation

  • Norms: social expectations, behaviour, rules, different rules for different situations, vary in degree of seriousness
  • socialisation: lifelong process, learn culture of society, agencies = family, media, education and religion
5 of 24

Values activity

  • Value = good and worthwhile, vary in societies
  • Cheyenne Indians: USA, defeated by US Army, wealth in form of horses and weapons, generosity highly regarded, greatest gift = prestige and respect, goals and aims, general guidelines, shared values = social unity = social solidarity, sense of belonging
6 of 24

Norms acitivity

  • Norms: specific guidelines, all areas of social life i.e. dress, behaviour in different situations
  • Culture norms: learned and shared an vary i.e. food
  • Bedouin: eat with fingers and burp -> west don't
  • Norms provide order in society, predictable, comprehensible
7 of 24

Culture activity

  • Culture = way of life of a particulr society
  • Beliefs, values, attitudes, norms, customs, traditions and rituals
  • Ralph Linton: "The culture of a society is the way of life for its members: the collection of ideas and habits which they learn, share and transmit through generations"
8 of 24

Culture test

  • Feral children: fully human = accepted into society, culture = develop human potential, prolonged isolation from human company, encouter problems
  • Monkey boy: Uganda, abandoned at 2 yrs old and looked after by monkeys, learned monkey language and skills, taken to orphanage, now human-like
9 of 24

Socialisation

  • Socialisation -> form identities
  • Identity -> definition of selves
  • Individual identities: socialisation, family, friends, school, media, work and other agencies
10 of 24

Socialisation task

  • Socialisation: lifelong process, learn culture
  • Culture: language, beliefs, values, norms, customs, roles, knowledge, skills
  • Identity: definition of selves, family, friends etc
  • Individuals: free will, create own personal identities, influence others views
11 of 24

Primary socialisation

  • PS: family, learn through imitation -> early years -> parents, family and siblings, consequences and awards, guidelines, behaviour in situations, interaction and communication, feral children = less chance
  • Baumeister 1986: family = identity
  • Morgan 1996: socialisation = social control and encourage conformity
  • Sanctions: right and wrong
  • Culture expectations: femininity and masculinit, TGI
12 of 24

Primary socialisation and identity

  • Identity: understandings about selves and what is meaningful to them
  • Social identity: charactersitics, indicate who we are
  • Baumeister 1986: family socialisation = identity
  • Young children: no live except family role
  • Social roles: played by parents
13 of 24

Secondary socialisation

  • **: other agencies other than the family
  • Education: behaviour, punishments, rewards
  • Meida: up to date with world
  • Religion: beliefs, good, bad
  • Work: organised, timing
  • Peers: how they behave
14 of 24

Culture

  • Linton 1945: culture of society = way of life, collection of ideas and habits, transmit through generations, languages, beliefs, values, norms, customs, dress, diet, roles, knowledge, skills
  • Culture: essential, communication, order, not ruled by instinct, governed by our genes or directed by biological needs and impulses
15 of 24

Culture activity

  • Shirbit culture: human body = ugly, rituals, ceremonies, shrine devoted to body, adults don't duscuss rituals, children told enough to be successfully initiated, potions kept in charm box, rituals of the mouth stop teeth falling out
16 of 24

Customs, roles and role conflict

  • Customs: norms lasted long time, traditions
  • Roles: parts we play in society, culture = guidelines on how to pla roles, varies in societies
  • Role conflict: many roles at same time, succesful performance of 2+ conflict
17 of 24

Subculture

  • Subcultre: social group, follow norms and values of majority, also have own norms and values
  • Larger and complex societies: people select particular norms, values and lifestyles
  • Own subcultures
18 of 24

Culture diversity - differences

  • Ethnocentrism: own cultre = normal, other cultures = different
  • Comparisons: wide differences
  • Process of socialisation = different for girls and boys
  • The social body: Elias 1978, changing cultural attitudes, [16th century -> no sense of shame/delicacy eat with hands, belch, fart, scratch, toilet in public], [now -> more sensitive, disciplined]
19 of 24

Becoming human - a conclusion

  • Long-running debate = nature/nurture
  • Feral children
  • Human behaviour = diverse
  • Elias -> body habits = product of socialisation
  • Explain social behaviour -> answers found at the social and cultural level
20 of 24

Roles and status activity

  • Status -> ascribed/achieved
  • Ascribed: fixed/unchangeable, many fixed at birth -> gender, UK -> aristocratic titles -> royal family
  • Achieved: choice/positive action
  • Social status: accompanied by role, nroms, differ over time, in realtion to other roles
  • Roles: order/predictability
21 of 24

Social control

  • Social control: persuade individuals, conform to dominant social norms and values, prevent deviance
  • Deviance  -> failure to conform to social norms
  • Sanctions: rewards, punishments, positive or negative, type depends on seriousness
22 of 24

Pimary socialisation and social control

  • Morgan 1996: socialisation -> social contro land encouraging conformity
  • Primary socialistion: praise, punishment
  • Treats: physical/emotional, sanctions vary on seriousness, teach rights and wrongs
  • Sanctions: shape moral beings
23 of 24

Summary

  • Animals: controlled by fixed biological instincts
  • Human behaviour: too complex, too diverse to be explained by biologically-based instincts, needs or drives, learnt through socialisation and culture
  • Culture: varies in societies, meanings, values, norms, roles, guide behaviour
  • Sociologists: avoid making judgements about cultures
  • Societies: larger and complex -> subcultures
24 of 24

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Sociology resources:

See all Sociology resources »See all Culture and Socialisation resources »