Culture and Sociology: An Introduction

• Module three focuses on culture and sociology.
• Lecture modules are located under the Media Gallery.
• The second week module covered how sociologists study society.

Understanding Culture

• Sociologists study culture, as do other fields like media studies, literature, anthropology, and psychology (including cross-cultural psychology).
• Culture will be defined and broken down into its components, especially how sociologists view them.
• Key aspects of culture include symbols and their role in language and cultural transmission.
• Values, norms, beliefs, mores, and folkways form culture.
• Three theoretical approaches: structural functionalist, Marxist conflict, and symbolic interactionism.

Defining Culture

• Culture includes music, food, and media.
• Sociologists have a unique definition of culture.
• Sociologically, culture is the result of interaction between ideas, behaviors, norms, communication, and the physical world.
• Culture is the combination of the subjective world (ideas, behaviors) and the objective world (physical objects).

Dimensions of Culture

• Material culture consists of tangible objects that can be perceived through the senses.
• Non-material culture is ideational, comprising ideas and behaviors based on those ideas.

Non-Material Culture

• Examples include values, norms, ideas, symbols, and customs.
• Objective objects have a non-material dimension.
• A coin is an objective object, but it represents monetary value.
• The value of money is an idea, not a corporal object.
• The value of a coin can change over time, varying from its original worth.
• The subjective aspects of an object differ from the objective ones.
• Paper is material, but the words written on it are non-material.
• Language or symbols are examples of non-material culture.

Symbols

• Symbols have a decipherable meaning for those who share a culture.
• Language is a symbol because it contains meaning.
• Letters create words, which in turn create meaning.
• The meaning depends on a shared language or culture.
• Language and symbols are subjective and non-material until understood.

Language

• It is more than just words or symbols.
• Language allows for communication and sharing of culture.
• Culture is shared through language and socialization.
• Language shares the meaning of objects; people recognize a nickel because someone shared that information through language.
• People are socialized into a culture through language.
• Language shapes the way people see the world.
• Language shapes one's thoughts, beliefs, and activities.
• It is nearly impossible to think, act, see, or perceive without language.
• Comprehension requires language whether through words, ideas, or symbols.
• Behaviors based on thoughts are influenced by language; language is a macro-structure.
• Sociologists study how and why language shapes behavior and thought.

Material vs. Non-Material Culture

• Drugs are tangible examples of material culture while drug names are non-material.
• Drugs have psychoactive effects.
• Objective effects have a material basis.
• Non-material aspects are one's perceptions that can be good or bad.
• Labels for drugs are non-material.
• Classifications of drugs as stimulants or depressants are non-material.
• Designating drugs as legal or illegal is also non-material.
• Terms and ideas shape the interaction with drugs.
• Language is important around drugs because how society deals with drugs comes down to how people talk about them using language.

Values

• Values are cultural standards to discern acceptability, guide behavior, and shape interactions with drugs.
• These standards discern acceptable versus unacceptable drugs, shaping interactions.
• Values determine what is acceptable, right, good, or bad.
• Societal values determine good versus bad drug use.
• Values are a social structure, and can also be a macro social structure that shapes behavior.

Beliefs

• Beliefs are ideas about what is true or factual.
• These are ideas regarding one's thoughts, opinions, or feelings.
• The beliefs are non-material aspects of culture that shape interaction.
• Values and beliefs change over time.
• Comparative sociology compares individualism versus collectivism.
• Individualism values individual needs over group needs whereas collectivism prioritizes group needs.

Individualism vs. Collectivism Experiment

• Passengers coming off an airplane from America were more likely to pick the one red pen (individualism).
• Passengers coming off an airplane from South Korea were more likely to pick one of the blue pens (collectivism).
• The criticism comes from this being overly simplistic, or even culturally insensitive.
• Values and beliefs are different from country to country, like how cannabis is seen as a controlled substance.

Norms

• Legal and illegal behavior is connected to acceptable or unacceptable behavior through norms.
• Norms are rules or guidelines for how to behave within a society.
• Folkways are informal, uncodified rules.
• Mores are more official, codified rules of a society.
• Taboos are behaviors almost always considered unacceptable.

Theoretical Approaches

• Three theoretical approaches: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism will apply.
• Functionalism views culture as shared beliefs and values.
• It sees taboos as real, because of shared beliefs and values.
• Taboos promote social stability, solidarity, and prevent behavior that goes against norms.
• Culture promotes social stability by preventing people from engaging in behavior that goes against norms.

Conflict Approach

• There can be more than one culture.
• One culture often dominates over others, using values and beliefs as tools.
• Values and belief tools are used by one culture above and against all others.
• They impose their ideas to maintain power and control.
• Values and beliefs are used to validate the interests of a group in power, like capitalists.
• The wealthy are more likely to be protected in the crime of robbery.

Symbolic Interactionist Approach

• Values and norms are subjective and socially constructed.
• Values and norms vary across cultures, and change over time.
• These symbols change when we change the language, and values are changed and transmitted to one another.
• Symbols can change over time.