Culture

BY:
HADIBA KANWAL
 CULTURE

It is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs,

arts, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by [a human] as a member of society.
Edward B. Tylor
Culture is the complex whole that consist of all the ways
we think and do and everything we have as a members of
society.
Robert Bierstedt
“Cumulative creation of man”. The handy work of man
through which he achieves his ends.
Malinowski
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
 Culture is learned

 Culture is Social

 Culture is shared

 Culture is transmissive

 Culture is accumulative
 Culture is gratifying

 Culture is adaptive

 Culture is variable

 Culture is organized

 Culture is Communicative
THE CULTURE IS COMPOSE OF TWO MAIN PARTS:

 Material
 Man made objects, tangibles
 (technology, food, clothing)

 Non-Material
 Intangible
 (thinking, belief, values gestures)
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE:

 Beliefs
 Norms
 Values
 Language
 Symbols
BELIEFS
 The ideas , viewpoints and attitudes of the
particular group of society.
 An acceptance that something exists or is true,
especially one without proof.
 They are consists of fables, proverbs, myths,
folklore, traditions, superstition,. that influence
the ideas, values, emotions, perceptions and
attitude of the members of the society.
VALUES
 The ability to distinguish what is right or wrong.
 Involve judgments of what is good or bad and
desirable or undesirable.
 A culture’s values shape its norms.
NORMS

 Norms means expectations for behavior-does not mean everyone will

follow them.
 Norms are often divided into two types:
 Formal norms
Formal norms, also called mores (MOOR-ayz) and laws, refer to the standards
of behavior considered the most important in any society. Examples in the
United States include traffic laws, criminal codes, and, in a college context,
student behavior codes
 Informal norms.
Informal norms, also called folkways and customs, refer to standards of
behavior that are considered less important but still influence how we behave.
Table manners are a common example of informal norms, as are such everyday
behaviors as how we interact with a cashier and how we ride in an elevator.
LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLS
 Language is a form of communication that
represents the spoken and written words to
convey information to an individual or group of
people.
 Anything that stand for something else is known
as Symbols
IDEAL CULTURE AND REAL CULTURE

 Ideal culture
 Which people are supposed to follow.
 Real Culture
 Which people actually practice.
CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS
 The culture is something outside of us, external
to the individual on whom it exerts a strong
coercive power.
 Two basic types of cultural constraints:
 Direct
 Indirect
CULTURAL RELATIVITY
 Anthropological attitude that a society’s customs
and ideas should be understood in the context of
that society’s problems and opportunities is called
cultural relativity.
 Ethnocentrism is a preference to your own
culture standards
 Xenocentrism is a preference to different
cultures.
 INTRODUCTION
THE CULTURE & SOCIALIZATION ARE MUTUALLY
INTERPLAY IN CONDITIONING HUMAN
PERSONALITY

Culture

PERSONAILTY

socialization
 SOCIALIZATION
 It is process to inducing the individual in to social world. Socialization is a
lifelong learning process.
 It is the process in which people learn attitudes, values, and actions appropriate

for members of a particular culture.

 Socialization is the process by which the individual learns to conform to the

norms of the groups(W.F. Ogurn).

 The process of transmission of culture & provide opportunity to men to learn

rules & practices of social groups.(Peter Worsley).

Types of Socialization:(Ian Robertson,1977)
 Primary socialization,

 Anticipatory socialization,

 Developmental socialization &

 Resocialization
TYPES OF SOCIALIZATION
1.    Primary socialization: This is the most essential and basic type of socialization.
It takes place in the early years of life of the new born individual. It concentrates
on the teaching of language and cognitive skills, the interaction of culture, norms
and values, establishment of emotional ties and the appreciation of other roles and
perspectives. The human child does not have a sense of right and wrong, desirable
and undesirable, moral and immoral. By trial and error by direct and indirect
observation and experience, the child gradually learns the norms relating to right
and wrong behavior. Process whereby people learn the language, attitude, values
and action.
2.    Development socialization: This kind of learning is based on the achievements
of primary socialization. “It builds on already acquired skills and knowledge as the
adult progress through new situations such as marriage or new jobs. These new
expectations, obligations, and roles. New learning is added to and blended with old
in a relatively smooth and continuous process of development”—Ian Robertson    
3.    Anticipatory socialization: Men not only learn the
culture of the group of which they are immediate members.
They may also learn the culture of groups to which they do
not belong. A person who intends to join the army may start
doing physical exercises to toughen his body and learning
the manners of army. Socialization is not a process that
takes place merely in early childhood. On the other hand, it
takes at different times and places throughout life.
4.    Re socialization: It is not only do individuals change
roles within groups, but they also change membership –
groups. It may also happen in periods of rapid social
mobility. For example an individual become a prisoner,
 Agents of socialization & Theories
AGENTS
AGENTS OF OF
SOCIALIZATION:
SOCIALIZATION:
 FAMILY
FAMILY &
&
PARENTS
PARENTS
 PEERS
PEERS
 TEACHERS
TEACHERS
 LITERATURE
LITERATURE &
&
MASS MEDIA
MASS MEDIA
FUNCTIONS OF SOCIALIZATION & SOCIALIZATION AS A SOCIAL
CONTROL

1. Establishes self-
concepts.
2. Creates the capacity for
role taking.
3. Creates the tendency
for people to act in
socially acceptable
ways.
4. Makes people bearers
of culture.
 PERSONALITY
 A Person’s pattern of
habits, attitudes & traits
which determine his
adjustment to his
environment (G.M.
Allport)
 Personality consists of

habits, attitudes & ideas

which are built up
around both people
&things (Kimball Young)
Factors
 Nature
 Nurture
 Role of culture in socialization
 Socialization is a cultural learning
 Culture defines situations, attitudes, Values & Goals
 Culture decides our career
 Culture provides behavior patterns.
How Personality developed through culture and socialization.
 Socialization is the molding & shaping the personality of human infant
within the space of culture.
 Personality is the product of culture. It is developed through the process
of socialization according to the cultural expectations of his society.
 The homogenous culture influence the personality and form positive
personality through the different socialization patterns. Cultural context
& ways of socialization are important in the development of personality.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

 Nature:
 Personality is the by-product of the socialization process and is

largely determined by the interplay of heredity and

environment.
 Heredity provides the raw materials or the potentialities for

growth and personality formation.

 Biological factors
 Nurture :
 Environment provides the opportunity, nurturance and

stimulation that would determine whether the inherited

biological makeup would be developed or stunted.
 Social factors
 THEORIES OF CULTURE
1. Structural Functional Approach (Macionis, ch# 3)
2. Social Conflict Approach (Macionis, ch# 3)
3. Sociobiology Approach (Macionis, ch# 3)
4. Social Construction of reality (Symbolic-
Interaction Approach) (Macionis, ch# 6)
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL APPROACH

 Level of analysis: Macro level

 What is culture: Culture is the system of
behavior by which members of societies
cooperate to meet their needs.
 Foundation of culture: cultural patterns are
rooted in society’s core values and beliefs.
SOCIAL CONFLICT APPROACH

 Level of analysis: Macro level

 What is culture: Culture is the system that
benefits some people and disadvantages others.
 Foundation of culture: Cultural patterns are
rooted in society’s system of economic
production.
SOCIOBIOLOGY APPROACH EVOLUTION OF CULTURE

 Level of analysis: Macro level

 What is culture: Culture is the system of

behavior that is partly shaped by human biology.

 Foundation of culture: Cultural patterns are

rooted in species adapt to its environment.
CONT.…
 First: all living things live to reproduce themselves.
 Second: The blueprint for reproduction is in the genes, the basic units of
life that carry traits of one generation into the next.
 Third: Some random variation in genes allows a species to “try out” new
life patterns in a particular environment. This variation allows some
organisms to survive better than others and pass on their advantageous to
their offspring’s.
 Fourth: Over thousands of generation ,the genetic patterns that promote
reproduction survive and become dominant. In this way, as biologists say,
a species adapts to its environment and dominant traits emerge as the
nature of the organisms.
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY (SYMBOLIC-INTERACTION
APPROACH)

 Level of analysis: Micro level

 We have the ability to shape who we are and to
guide what happens from moment to moment.
Reality is not as fixed as we may think.
 How people see events depends on their different
backgrounds, interests, and intensions.
 People assign symbols and create meaning based
on their interactions with one another.
 Reality is therefore said to be socially constructed.
THANK YOU . . .