eople from one
Pr ie those from
nt meanings
hale may be
What seems ordinary. Oa
ciety thay seem outla
eine ie act can ae differe
in different societies. Just as @ W!
ae that it floats in seawater, members
of a society are generally unaware that they
are following belief and custom in their behav-
for, They seldom wonder why they belleve
and act as they do, Only by imaginatively
stepping outside one’s own body of belief
and custom can one become aware of its
actual nature, From their life experiences
people develop a set of rules and procedures
for meeting their needs. The set of rules and
procedures, together with a supporting set
* ; of ideas and values, is called a culture,
1 A. person ‘who is commonly considered
“cultured” can identify operatic arias, read a
{$4 French menu, and select the right fork, But
) 4) people who are bored by the classics, belch
2); In public, and speak in four-letter words also
| have culture, Like most sociological concepts,
culture 1s a word with both a popular and a
soclological meaning,
‘CULTURE AND SOCIETY
The classic definition of culture, framed bj
| Sir Edward Tylor (1871, vol.'1, p. 1], reads,
"Culture . . | 1
rd ply, culture is everything whi
4S socially learned and shared by- temas
society. The individual rereives culture as part
} of a social heritage and, in turn, may aura
the culture and introduce changes which ye
"1
become part of the heritage of SUcceedin,
THES 8
generations.
opie. Such manufac.
f 2
tured oblects ate called genie! In the game
Paseball,\for instances the lovee
uniforms, and grandstands are a few clements
of material culture, The nonmaterial culture
would include the rules of the gamgth skis
* of the Tayers the concepts of stalegyiand
. the: teelona ehavior of players and spec
tator Rey material culture 1s yalwa) ‘9, the
olitgrowth of ‘the nonmaterial”clilfuregnd is
meaningless without it. If the ganie of baseball
is"forgotten, a& bat becomes just a stick of
wood. Sinceithe most important, part yo
turevis the heritage) of ideas, Ahis nonmaterial
culture will be the major emphasis of this
book, 7
Culture is often confused with society, but
the t different meanings.
Whereas i d
values, 2)Scanned with CamScannerimals DOIN resemure airs wre: «
aah Kuklin/Photo Researchers, Inc.)
& ‘ ; jate é people who confuse,
% 3 aying effort infuriated many peor used
which, ig another way ot Prot statistical with cultural norms.
"1 afi 3
a shaking hands, we extend the right hand;
this is proper in our culture. For scratching
our heads we may use either hand; our culture
has no norm for head scratching.
Ulfure and the cultura D he and several degrees of compulsion, as
culture. Often people do not distinguish be- in the following classification. Most
tween the two norms. The famous Kinsey concepts were developed by the
Studies sought to find some statistical norms ologist William Graham Sumne
of sexual behavior in the United States. ‘The wuys, published in 1906
lebthiceh alone.
thine loro : cig pt ae
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Social life everywhere is ful) of
‘ow to wrest a living from fat
Problems—
it ure,
divide the fruits of toil or goog eee to
to relate ourselves agreeably to one aoe
day ters, Hunan bigs se
have tried every possible Way of deg
such problems. Different societies ae sind
wide variety of workable atterns, A grou;
“ay at once Bice, oF sereT ign SP
day; they may eat While standing, seated in
chairs, oF squatting on the ground; they may.
eat together, or each may eat iri Privacy; they
may eat with their fingers or use Sine kind
of utensils; they may start with wine and end
wih fish, start with fish and end with wine,
or reject both. And so it goes for thousands
of items of behavior. Each trait is a selection
from a number of possibilities, all of which
are more or less workable. Through trial and
error, sheer accident, or some unknown in-
fiuence, a group arrives at one of these pos-
sbilties,, repeats it, and accepts it as the
is
of meeting a particular need, Jt
_ Wearing neckties on some occasions and sport
_ shirts on others, ‘on the right-hand
side of the street, and eating toast for breakfast
_ ea few of our many American folkways:
exposure of the face,
~ husband
0
Wah a fortune as an
YS, even 1 1OUgh her
ose
Mores |
Some folkwa
ers. Ifone u:
this is not
Society,
\ys are more important than oth:
'sethe Wrong fork for on’ ta
very important, but i, in ue
Woman chooses anyone but her
ind to sire her child, many aspects of
financial obligation, Property inheritance
rights; family relationships, and sentimental
linkage pecome disrupie, We tl
ognize Ses wal
which should be lien Siete
manners and polite behavior’ and (2 those
which must be followed because“they are
believed essential to group welfare. Thesé
ideas of tight and_wrong which attach to
i fll eae P
‘wrong tohleht require cert
(Mores is the plural of the Li
but the singular form farely appears in so-
iological literature.)
Members of a society normally share 3
ime faith that violation of their marys wil
bring disaster upor. them, Outsiders, how-
ever, often see thatat least some of the group's
‘mores are irrational. They may include f
taboos which make cattle, hogs, or horses
infit to eat; modesty taboos which forbi
aoe the ankle, the west the
‘whatever is considered “immod-
rena or sage taboos which forbid misuse of
h group"Welfare.
ne rabiadet |
hs
Scanned with CamScannerScanned with CamScannerumstances). All known socie
etigped an incest taboo, disapproving of Sex-
vetntercourse between close blood relatives,
alumably becauise they found that sexus}
Peevetition within. the family was too dis.
Con SE All morestare ideas which approve
cufain acts andl forbid others yn belif that
croup weltare is being protect Sometimesy
Ge belies are! grounalesssiece Somietinies
aie Tilly Justa tesa
Dries are not deliberate
ought up or worked out because someone
ae ded they would be a good idea, They
tees ¢ gradually out of the Customary prac-
Le oy people, largely without conscious
eels or intention. Mores arise from a group
ee ef that a particular act seems to be harmful
det rast beiforbiddentiee conversely, that
: particular act is so. necessary that ib must
ired). Originally, then, mores were a
isn eae about group welfare,
SSO aappose that through some
coincidence, several members of a tribe have
nasty accidents after swimming in a certain
1,,The tribe comes to believe that there is
eatuingaanercd about the pool When
all members of the tribe ba te pepe
Fara lanaomimaeeirc the mores
have defined this act as eons. F vie att
im in the pool thereafter are like yp epest
BuetEing and others who know of anes
wll wale tae how Dee ee Ts.
ihnent and will relnforer these mors, Be
gotten an -
Ee dpind ee a cs being Baten
and of itself not just because a perc this way,
mew Cte rc
7 2 kat ions,
beliefs about the effects of pie aes which
into absolutes—int Mania wrong
ite right because they are right
ties have de.
ly invented or
~ equally odd to members |
y ceties}
Mores are taught to the OuNS not as
absolutes aePmtiens but an ela
tenclutes. They must be internalized. To in.
fernalize means to lear, F Accept something $0
completely that it becomes an, automatic, unthinks
M8 Part of our resporises When fully internal:
ized, \mores control behavior by “making it
Psychologically very difficult to commit the
fi fact, For example, we do not refrain
ting our children. or. ou
‘ause of an intellectual. decisio
T ‘enemies
n that can-
Ribalism is impractical
Lor wasteful but because
unable to eat
human flesh even if we tried to do'so, Mores
function by making their violation emotion-
ally impossible. In a society with a dearly
defined, firmly implanted Set of mores, there
is very little personal misconduct. Hl
Some people claim that mores are fat
Sroup opinions and are not the same as a
ight and wrong. They argue for absolute
standerds of morality, claiming that the na-
ture of the universe makes certain setions
definitely wrong and soeras enna nent
regardless of time, place, af eee
‘iis is, an, important ethical i :
ah usually has meaning only for pris:
hers and theologians. As faras the nv
Sehase people is concerned, * noreea
alenplyanothed wera tenga paiay
ioe eared Stats (96 as baa
m pes can make SOVInELE) S es of con-
oof ation of anything. Examples heb
yee numerous. Some of the erased
mores, are numerous} Soe ;
vi te utah defecate public. oe
Gren the Balinese Bacar
eatin nthe Bae cae tally
a ee ne ale
oe ‘Some Western. mort e
phens, 1970].
f pore
ena eR
it right for thr: Chin
res made it rig! shaig waits
sitution and even ie
_ Medieval mo!
to tolerate proschecking accounts, and eat
markets,
amen, ‘are economic institutions y Ve
Most ofthe Reformation gered, bargaining Tr re" arter thousands nf hich
both Catholi¢/and Fronearel ewer vt pena possed through many stages ae |
f here a eh thro : }
es the torture and burning nd often kindly °Er pment, Ani institutios an shee inet SQ),
Ee | “cruel or evil but were decent 200 i time a set.of behavior. patterns: lave
men who did what the mot four recent dardized; ((2)/a set-of suppor *
Mores 0! hly-stan Portin
Ee etea Tabor, slavery, and tnores-atitudesrand valuescand Bya boas
past have appr oe ®
fam, woman suffrage, and Sex Creer and other paraphernaiie of
- "Atall times and places good people AN Te ne will be treated in deta -
sel pere coe righteous when following ‘Melt Tt ters but are introduced here becatise
mores, whatever they may be the concept must be used throughout oy
discussion. ;
astitutions
Some clusters of folkways and mores are Morea} ays
important than others; for example, those
concemed with forming families and raising pares ice Sly ae
children are more important than those con’ are fsa strong tendency for them to becors
erned with playing football. Organized clus- pee At into the laws of @ ay om
_ fea fay nd mores deing wth EPL wil obey mores automatealy or
tear ieiutincof re cocc Incttotions cause they want to do the “right” thing. 4
sera ratitations of he society. Institutions few people, however, are tempted to violate
eeeapacmatatlaccal yeiaiis mores. These people may be forced to con
and systems of social relationships. For a ‘ 4 con.
formal definition we suggest: An institution fot by the threat of legal punishment. Thi,
: 2 ‘a the law serves to reinforce the moresgTheee
So Ena who still will’ not ‘conform’ are =
tnd mecis cerais base tools eet, imprisoned, or even executed. Sometines
a Jaws are passed which do not really harmo-
pre mapa nize with mores, and their enforcement then
becomes difficult or even impossible,
One example of this is the Eighteenth
__‘sinstittionalized. Beyond these, the concept mendment, passed in 1919, which cutlawed
; _jbpes off into less significant clusters of th manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquor.
Svar tes lke those suroundng :
__ baseball, B, or beekeeping, which a
{sometimes loosely ‘called insets bat
_ Probably should not be included because they >,
__#€ So much less important,
7
‘Or example,
investment
= & SOtporate enterprise
Sometimes laws do not harmonize with the mores.
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p
P
®
‘
; No legislation, for instance,
7 decreed the end
| of corsets for women.
i
1
te law was bitrerly opposed by a sizeable
popottion of the population and was re-
i, Pied in 1933 when it became obvious that
Forcement was impossible. Many people
tpday would say the same is true of laws
prohibiting the sale and possession of mari-
jaana. Laws against ethnic discrimination did
| tot rofect everyone's views when they were
but are defended on the ground that
they “educate” and thus promote a change
in the mores which leads to an eventual
wilingness to observe such laws,
Mores’ dol/change,fand the, actions they
one era, they may forbid in
N
fa: gradjial
; Sum-
940,
omen; they
xed Ife~
of. ing the mo’
N
is) seldom
de: develop it
- Would’a return to the “s!
Values
Mores are ideas about w1 t
or wrong. Values are des shat alone cet
Tlences are important or unimportant, For a
ample theres no moral debate about whether
classical music is right or wrong. But while
some people consider hearing Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony one of life's great experi-
ences, for others it is a crashing bore. People
who highly value physical fitness will exercise
regularly and watch their food and drink.
Values thus guide a persons’ judgments and
behavior.
In eacH society, some values are prized
more highly than others. Punctuality, mate-
rial progress, and competition are major val-
ues in American society, while none of these
«is important to the Hopi Indians. The mem-
bers of a simple society generally are closely.
agreed_upon_a single set of values, wh