Chapter 2: Culture The Concept of culture Referred to as expressive culture, which includes plastic and graphic arts, and

language arts Sociologists and anthropologists define culture in a broader context. Culture refers to the total and distinctive way of life or designs for living of any society.

Language and Culture Symbolic language is responsible for the existence and development of culture. Language refers to the systematized usage of speech and hearing to convey, communicate, or express feelings and ideas. It is made up of a set of verbal and written symbols used within a certain culture. A symbol is anything that stands or represents something else and is not immediately present to our senses. Symbols may be colors, emblems, gestures, designs, marks, or words. The word chair connotes something to sit on or a presiding officer of a committee. The cross is a symbol for Christians or street crossings. Language is an integral part of culture, and human culture cannot exist without it.

The Characteristics of Culture 1. Culture is learned. o Culture is derived from the family and other social groups through conditioning, imitation, suggestion, informal and formal instruction, and mass communication. The acquisition of culture follows certain principles of learning, reinforced through a system of reward and punishment. 2. Culture is transmitted. o While all animals are capable of learning, only humans can transmit their acquired habits and knowledge to their offspring. 3. Culture is social, collective, and learned. o It is developed through group interaction and results from the accumulation of knowledge and group expectations. 4. Culture is ideational. o Humans assign meaning to their environment and experiences by symbolizing them. 5. Culture is gratifying. o Culture has provisions to satisfy the biological and sociocultural needs of people. 6. Culture is adaptive. o All cultures are always changing and these changes represent adjustments to the environment. No culture is static. Cultures are in constant flux, but change at different rates. 7. Culture is an integrated whole. o The various parts of the culture are closely interrelated and integrated into a whole. Culture is the product not of a single individual but of a collective.

Components of Culture Culture is made up of many elements which are interrelated and unified in order for all its aspects to function effectively. Cultural toolbox has two major aspects: the material and nonmaterial culture. Material culture refers to the concrete and tangible objects that human create, use, share, serving as buffers against the various elements in the environment. Nonmaterial culture consists of knowledge, social norms, beliefs, and sanctions which are abstract and intangible creations that influence human behavior.

Knowledge The total range of what has been learned or perceived as true is knowledge. This body of information is accumulated through experience, study, or investigation. Social norms Certain prescriptions or standards of behavior. Rules or group expectations of how one should behave or act in certain situations. They define what behavior is required, acceptable, or appropriate in particular situations. Conformity brings reward while nonconformity brings punishment or sanctions. Folkways Commonly known as the customs, traditions, and conventions of society. These customary ways are accumulated and become repetitive patterns of expected behavior which tend to be self-perpetuating. Folkways include innumerable group expectations like rules of eating, drinking, dressing, sleeping, dancing and working, forms of greetings, rituals, and polite behavior in institutional settings. There are a number of folkways observed during Christmas, lent, and other special occasions. An example of this is when children say po to elders. Mores Mores are special folkways which are important to the welfare of the people and their values. They embody the codes of ethics and standards of morality in a society. The Ten Commandments constitute an important source of mores. It applies to sexual behavior, marriage and family relations, physical and moral aggression against members of the in-group, betrayal of a group, attitudes toward authority, religion, or the unfortunates in society, business deals, and other vital issues which involve group welfare.

Laws

Laws are formalized norms, enacted by people who are vested with government power and enforced by political and legal authorities designated by the government.

Collective Forms of Behavior Values o Basis of our judgment, of what we consider good, desirable, and correct, as well as what is considered bad, undesirable, and wrong. Beliefs o Embody peoples perception of reality and may include the primitive ideas of universe as well as the scientists empirical view of the world.

Ethnocentrism The tendency to regard ones culture as the best and better than those of others. A belief that ones group is at the center of everything and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. Considers their group as superior There is the attitude that my culture is right and yours is wrong.

Xenocentrism It is when people reject their own group or some part of their culture Also called reverse ethnocentrism

Cultural Relativism Questions that bring out the realities of cultural diversity. o Example: Why do Aetas refuse to eat canned foods? Why do Mangyans worship a hierarchy of spirits? Why do European males kiss in greeting? Culture is relative, and no cultural practice is good or bad in itself. The concept of cultural relativism states that cultures differ, so that a cultural trait, act or idea has no meaning or function by itself but has meaning only within its cultural setting. A trait is good or bad only with reference to the culture in which it functions.

Diversity of Culture Refers to the wide range of differences in cultural patterns, ideas, beliefs, knowledge, forms of social organization and practical responses to the environment.