CLEP Introductory Sociology PDF

34 CLEP INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY 4.CULTURE DEFINING CULTURE With society as the reference point, culture is generally defined as a blue- print according to which the members of a society or a group go about their daily lives. Culture consists of the common (learned and shared) social herita...

34 CLEP INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY 4.CULTURE DEFINING CULTURE With society as the reference point, culture is generally defined as a blue- print according to which the members of a society or a group go about their daily lives. Culture consists of the common (learned and shared) social heritage of beliefs, customs, skills, traditions, and knowledge that members pass on to one another. With the reference point being nothing more than individuals commu- nicating meaning and value to one another, culture represents all things made (all objects of thought and experience), material (as in the tools we use), and nonmaterial (as in the rules people live by, the ideals according to which people live,the ideas in terms of which we think). Social structure represents the ways in which individuals have come to organize themselves internally and exter-nally. Socialization is never complete. Deviance is very much a part of how human beings live and work as members of a community or organization. MATERIAL AND NONMATERIAL CULTURE Culture is comprised of material and nonmaterial elements. Material cul-ture consists of the things that people attach meaning to and use. Items of material culture include cars, clothing, books, and burial sites. Nonmaterial culture (which includes languages, ideas,belief systems,rules,customs,politi-cal systems) consists of the abstract terms that human beings create for the pur-poses of defining, describing, explaining, clarifying, ordering,organizing,and communicating what they do and how they live. In this context a symbol does not merely refer to "the representation of one thing by another." Many primates can be condlitioned to make certain associa-tions or to learn what certain verbal cues mean, but only human beings create symbols. A symbol represents something to which a certain meaning or value is attached by the person or persons who use it. All human languages therefore represent complex symbol systems through which  34 CLEP INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY thoughts are expressed but not determined. Culture includes the tools we use, the rules we live by, the ide-als to which we are committed, and the ideas that we express. CHAPTER 2: SOCIOLOGY REVIEW 35  CHAPTER 2: SOCIOLOGY REVIEW 35 ASPECTS OF CULTURE Culture, thus, includes the symbols, sounds, events, and objects to which people attach meaning and significance. Symbols and Language Unlike other animals, man alone is capable of making sense of what he sees around him by using symbols to organize and communicate his observations.The one form of communication that is unique to human beings is spoken language.Human language is unlike the various types of communications used by other spe-cies that make use of symbols such as sounds, smells, and body gestures. Norms and Values Norms are the rules or expectations that govern or to which people orient their behavior. In this context, norms are binding rules whose violation results in some form of punishment. Values represent not only the things that give meaning and about which human beings feel certain,but also the ideas that make such things so important that humans are willing to fight, to work, or to give up something of their own in exchange (or as payment) for them. Values express the ideas or central beliefs common to the members of a group describing what they consider good, right, and desirable and against which the norms of a particular group or subgroup may be judged. Folkways Folkways are the usual customs and conventions of everyday life. Members of a society or group generally expect each other to conform to folkways, but do not insist upon such conformity. Nonconformists are thought to be peculiar or eccentric,particularly if they consistently violate such norms. Folkways dif-fer from values in that they lack a moral component.  CHAPTER 2: SOCIOLOGY REVIEW 35 Mores Mores are norms of such moral and ethical significance to the members of a society or community that their violation is regarded as a serious matter worthy of strong criticism, anger,punishment, or institutionalization. 36 CLEP INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY 36 CLEP INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY Cultural Universals Cultural universals are the basic elements essential to individual and col lective survival that are found to exist in all cultures. Cultural Variability Cultural variability connotes the variety of things human beings have devised to meet their needs. CULTURAL DIVERSITY Ethnocentrism refers not only to the attitude that one's own cultural or eth.nic values are the only good and true values, but also to the tendency to judge other cultures by one's own standards. Cultural relativism refers to social sei entists'efforts to be objective in their observations either by not imposing their own meaning on the events being observed, or by focusing solely on the reason why the element exists. SUBCULTURES AND COUNTERCULTURES In today's world, cultures generally represent nations or nation-states, each with its own cultural identity. Nations, however, tend to consist of relatively large subcultures which,though not wholly separate from the larger culture,represent unique cultures and cultural organizations unto themselves. The Amish are one example of a subculture that has been able to preserve its tradi-tional mode of organizing work within farming communities despite America's high level of industrialization. All cultures are concerned with the issue of preserving their values, beliefs,language, and lifestyles and, thus, with the threat countercultures (whose values, beliefs, and ways of life do not conform to the norm) pose to their exis-tence and survival. Distinctive values and norms, as well as unconventional behavior, may characterize a counterculture. Examples of countercultures include the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups, as well as cults.