Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate") is a term that has

different meanings. However, the word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses:

 Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
 An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the
capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
 The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution,
organization or group

The nature of culture:

When studying cultures throughout the world, you will analyze various cultures by
distinguishing between;

 Cultural traits – the smallest element in a culture, non material, such as beliefs,
traditions etc.
 Cultural items – A material culture trait which can be seen handled and used.

Characteristics of culture:

 Culture is learned.
 Culture is transmitted orally and by writing.
 Culture is shared.
 Culture is patterned and integrated
 Culture is adoptive and maladaptive.
 Culture is compulsory.
 Culture is essential for social life.

The elements of culture:

 Beliefs – represents man’s conviction about the reality of things and are shared ideas about
how the world operates.
 Values – indicates the moral imperatives and social conscience or social control, internalized
by the individual members of the society.
 Norms and sanctions – shared rules or patterns of behavior in a particular culture that
informs its members what they should or should not do.
 Folkways - are any informal mores characterized by being followed through imitation and
mild social pressure but not strictly enforced or put into law.
 Mores - known as customs, derive from the established practices of a society rather than its
written laws. They consist of shared understandings about the kinds of behavior likely to
evoke approval, disapproval, toleration or sanction, within particular contexts.
 Law - is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. Laws can shape or
reflect politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social
mediator of relations between people.
 Sanctions – conformity is attained through the use of sanctions.
 Material culture and technology – refers to the physical, tangible and concrete objects
produce by man.
 Language – the foundation upon which human cultures are built.

Some terms about culture:

 Cultural relativism – is the principle that an individual human’s beliefs and activities should
be understood in terms of his or her culture.
 Ethnocentrism – the view to regard one’s culture as right and normal with a superior
attitude.
 Culture shock - is the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty,
confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within a different and unknown culture such
as one may encounter in a foreign country. It grows out of the difficulties in assimilating the
new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not.

Some functions of culture:

 Integration – shared interpretations.

 Commitment – emotional reasons.
 Control – more complex

Reference;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture