UCSP Handout Module 2 PDF

The module contains two (2) lessons, namely: LESSON 3: CULTURE LESSON 4: SOCIETY At the end of this module, the student is expected to: analyze the concepts, aspects and changes of culture and society. CULTURE Culture r...

The module contains two (2) lessons, namely: LESSON 3: CULTURE LESSON 4: SOCIETY At the end of this module, the student is expected to: analyze the concepts, aspects and changes of culture and society. CULTURE Culture refers to a group or community which shares common experiences that shape the way its members understand the world. It includes groups that we are born into, such as race, national origin, gender, class, or religion. It can also include a group we join or become part of. Culture and society defined, culture consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society. Through culture, people and groups define themselves, conform to society's shared values, and contribute to society. Culture is the complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbol, and knowledge that person learns and shares as a member of society. (Edward Burnett Tylor) ASPECTS OF CULTURE With the complexities of culture, these are some important aspects of culture that enhance the progress of human interaction and socialization. Dynamic, Flexible and Adaptive Culture changes constantly throughout the time. It varies on the societal structure and the capacities of its members to respond. Shared and Contested Culture through its elements is enjoyed by group of people who lived together. It also allows its members to predict the behavior of other members but it is no assurance that they will think and act similarly. Learned through socialization or enculturation Culture is learned with practice through continued process. It is a lifelong process in which social interaction plays a vital role. Patterned social interactions Culture creates patterned behavior and social interactions that can be transmitted through socialization and enculturation. Integrated and at times unstable Culture to be always functioning must maintain its components integrated. Language must have all its idea and ideals intact for the successful transmission from one person to another. Transmitted through socialization/ enculturation Socialization is a process of learning and internalizing rules and patterns of society (Sociological Perspective) while enculturation is a process of learning and adopting ways and manners of culture. (Anthropological Perspective) Page 1 of 2 Subject: Understanding Culture, Society and Politics – Module 2 Requires language and other forms of communication Culture will be successfully transmitted if it uses language and other forms of communication within their context. SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS American sociologists Paul Horton and Chester Hunt (1964) defined institution as an organized system of social system of social relationships that represent a society’s common values and procedures. This is a stable, valued, recurring pattern that guides the behavior of people in society. Once the elements of culture become so integrated that activities are already formalized on a unit basis, institutions surface in society. AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION Family - For most people, the process of socialization begins in the family. Family is their first source through which they commence their social communication. As a child, a person learns to see and interpret himself and society through the eyes and understanding of his parents and other elders of the family. Peer group - A peer group is a group of people of approximately the same age, sharing similar interests and probably belonging to similar backgrounds. Peers help a person experience things beyond what his/her family allows. School – In this institution, an average person spends most of his/her young life. In school, he/she meets different types of people with varying beliefs, cultural orientations, attitudes, and the like. Religion - is one of the most powerful agents of socialization which is linked with concepts and values people identify themselves with. Government or State - is an indirect agent of socialization. This means, though we do not come in contact with the institution directly, it does have an impact on our social life and well-being. Mass media – Is the strongest and the most argued indirect agent of socialization. Page 2 of 2 Subject: Understanding Culture, Society and Politics – Module 2