Chapter 2: Characteristic of Culture

integrated culture

-a change in one part will affect other parts -a degree of harmony is necessary in any properly functioning culture, but complete harmony is not required

diffusion

-borrowing of traits between cultures -can be forced (war) or indirect (markets)

why culture changes

-change in environment -intrusion of outsiders -change in values

not all culture is uniform

-cultural variation related to age and gender -different cultural meaning between sexes -social roles -expected patterns of behavior -every age has milestones in which society starts to treat you differently

shared

-culture cannot exist without society -there are no human societies that do not exhibit culture

dynamic culture

-culture must be adaptable/flexible -can be adaptive or maladaptive

transmission of culture through language

-ideas, emotions, and desires expressed in language -from generation to generation through language

Cynthia Ann Parker

-is she white or commanchee -a persons culture is defined by what they know and how they are (i.e.: how they grew up, who they grew up with, and the values/morals that they have) -culture is not defined only by who you are related to

berdache

-means "2 spirits" -women who think they are men -men who think they are women -recognized in native americans who believe in 4 genders

maladaptive culture

-never want to go to new guinea -health problem that only affected women (excessive trembling, would die within 18 months) -Kuru (really mad cow disease) -to show respect, women would eat the brains of the dead women who died from Kuru (mad cow disease). the disease would be passed on through the ritual resulting in the death of women -mad cow disease caused by a prion (a powerful protein) that caused other proteins in the brain to deform

dynamic culture

a culture must be flexible enough to allow for adjustments in the face of unstable or changing circumstances

society

a group of people who share a common culture and are bound together by a general sense of common identity

subculture

a group within a larger society that has its own distinctive set of standards and behavior ex) amish

crime and delinquency

a sign that a culture is not satisfying a people's needs and expectations

integrated culture

a system with many parts that operate together as a whole unit

learned

all culture is _____, not inherited.

superstructure

all cultures want everybody within the culture to believe the same

social structure

all societies have laws and rules (includes politics, clubs, families, organizations, etc.)

scapegoating

blaming all problems of the world on one minority

acculturation

borrowing aspects of another culture, usually as a result of extreme pressure; making someone change against their will; decline of tradition

dynamic culture

constantly changing and adopting new things

dynamic culture

cultures respond to changes around them

mechanisms of cultural change

diffusion acculturation independent invention

function of culture

enculturate new members so that they cam become functioning adults

culture

every aspect to your day-to-day life

shared culture

helps you predict how someone is like to behave

enculturation

how individuals learn the socially appropriate way to satisfy biologically determined needs

characteristics of culture

learned shared based on symbols integrated dynamic

ethnic group

people who identify themselves as a distance group based on various cultural features such as shared ancestry, common origin, language, customs, and traditional beliefs (who you identify with)

function of culture

provide for biological continuity through the reproduction of its members

function of culture

provide for the production and distribution of goods and services necessary for life

symbols

signs, emblems, and other things that represent something else in a meaningful way

independent invention

solutions to problems ex) agriculture

enculturation

the process of transmitting culture from one generation to the next

culture relativism

the thesis that one must suspend judgement on their people's practices in order to understand them in their own cultural terms

culture

the values, beliefs, and perceptions of the world shared by memories of a society that they use to interpret experience and generate behavior

evaluation of cultures

through -nutritional status -physical/mental health of population -incidence of violence, crime, and delinquency -demographic structure -stability and tranquility of domestic life

dynamic culture

when one element within the system shifts or changes, the entire system strives to adjust

culture relativism

you have to try to understand the culture in their way and in their terms

ethnocentric

you think your culture is the best in the world