Understanding Culture: Aspects, Customs, and Institutions

• Culture is how people develop ways to meet their needs, then pass these ways to future generations.
• Culture is learned, not static, and is ever-changing.
• Culture is people's way of life

Aspects of Culture:

• Shelter and Food
• Language
• Family Relations
• Religion and Customs
• Education and Literature
• Art and Music
• Technology
• Material Objects
• Social Organization

Customs include:

• How people dress
• What food they eat
• Holidays and celebrations
• Important life events like birthdays, marriages, and funerals

Roles:

• Roles are based on rules for behavior in certain positions
• People learn how they are supposed to act in these roles

Institutions:

• Institutions are organizations that clarify social roles and address social needs.
• Families arrange for reproduction and care of family members.
• Schools teach the values of society and adulthood preparation.
• Government protects from outsiders and regulates individual behavior.
• The army, hospitals, and churches are institutions.

Ethnicity:

• Refers to groups sharing language, customs, and heritage.
• Can be considered a nationality.

Race:

• Is reserved for groups possessing common biological traits.

Culture Change & Exchange:

• Innovation involves creating something new from existing technology and resources.
• Diffusion is the spread of ideas, inventions, or behaviors to different societies.
• A cultural hearth is a source of innovation from which ideas, materials, and technology spread.
• Acculturation is when a society changes by accepting or adopting an innovation

Religion:

• Involves a set of beliefs, customs, and practices
• Religion has an organization
• Religion designates some places as sacred.

Major World Religions

• Animism
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Islam
• Sikhism

Animism:

• Is the belief that natural things have their own spirit
• Nature includes animals, plants, and places.
• Native Americans believed in animism.
• Each clan identified with an animal and never harmed it

Hinduism:

• It as the most popular religion in India
• It is the 3rd largest religion worldwide.
• It teaches disciples that life principles are discovered through meditation.
• Hinduism believes in many gods.
• Reincarnation: A person's soul is reborn.
• Karma determines rebirth into a higher class if one lives a good life
• Caste System: Hereditary with no social mobility.
• Cows are sacred and they do not eat beef.

Buddhism:

• It began in Nepal around 500 B.C. by Prince Siddhartha Gautama.
• Gautama was shocked by human suffering.
• He left his family to search for truth.
• Siddhartha Gautama is also known as Buddha.
• To end suffering, one must stop desiring material things.
• Basic Philosophy: Self-denial, meditation, and reincarnation
• There is no belief in a single God, thus no holy book.
• Four Noble Truths explain life's meaning: suffering stems from desire.
• Eightfold Path: Rules to live by with right view, intentions, speech, action, livelihood, effort, concentration, and mindfulness.
• Nirvana: Achieved through the Eightfold Path, leading to final reincarnation and eternal bliss.

Judaism:

• It is the first religion to teach monotheism.
• Jewish religion emerged in the Mediterranean 4,000 years ago.
• Hebrews were enslaved by Egyptians, later led back to Israel by Moses.
• Old Testament: Jewish history in the Bible's first books.
• The Ten Commandments are a moral code.
• Belief in one God
• One should honor their parents
• There should be no killing
• There should be no stealing
• There should be no committing adultery

Christianity:

• It began about 2,000 years ago, based on Jesus' teachings.
• Jesus preached forgiveness, mercy, and sympathy.
• Romans crucified Jesus for claiming to be the Messiah/Savior.
• Apostles spread Christianity.
• It is the world's most popular religion.
• Jesus is the son of God, sent to save mankind
• Jesus rose from the dead to go to heaven.
• Christian Code: Salvation and heaven are achieved through faith, love, and respect.
• The Golden Rule dictates treating others as you would like to be treated.
• The Christian Bible includes the Old and New Testaments

Islam:

• Means "submission"
• Islam followers are called Muslims who submit to Allah
• It was founded by Mohammed around 600 A.D.
• Belief is in a single God called “Allah.”
• The Holy Book is the Qu'ran/Koran
• It contains God's message given to Mohammed

5 Pillars of Islam:

• They are basic religious duties
• There is no other God but Allah.
• Pray 5 times a day facing Mecca.
• Give money to the poor.
• Fast during Ramadan.
• Make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
• Islam is very popular in the Middle East, South, and Southeast Asia.

Sikhism:

• It is found mostly in Northern India.
• It combines Hinduism and Islam.
• It believes in reincarnation
• It believes in one God and equality
• Men do not cut their hair and wear turbans.

Rural Areas:

• People live in huts or simple cottages.
• Work as farmers and livestock herders.
• They might not read/write.

Urban Areas:

• People live in large cities with advanced technology.
• There is running water, sewage, and electricity.
• More opportunities than in rural areas.

Social Structure:

• This is society is organized into different social classes
• Social Class: People sharing similar wealth and power.
• Social mobility refers to the ability to change classes.

Family Structure & Gender Roles:

• Family Structure: How many generations live together; how family decisions are made.
• Gender Roles: Roles assigned to men and women.
• Women are caretakers
• Men provide

Multicultural Societies:

• These societies are a mix of peoples and cultures.
• Minority groups are ethnic/religious groups which are not a part of the dominant group.
• Some societies give minorities more rights than others.

Problems Faced by Minorities:

• Ethnic Prejudice
• Discrimination and exclusion
• Expulsion and Genocide