Chapter 2 Flashcards
Material culture
All physical objects created by members of a society and the meaning/
significance attached to them.
Nonmaterial culture
Abstract human creations and their meaning/
significance in life. (attitudes, beliefs, customs, ideas…)
Culture
material and nonmaterial culture shared by a society and transmitted to the next generation
Norms
A culture’s rules of conduct-internalized by the members-embodying the society’s fundamental expectations
Acculturation
The process of a minority group adapting their distinctive cultural traits to those of the host society
linguistic relativity
the proposal that the particular language we speak influences the way we think about reality
Paralinguistic signals
Sounds but not words like a sigh, or a kissy sound
The Thomas Theorem
William I. Thomas observed that if people define situations as real, those situations become real in their consequences.
Cultural Transmission
The process in which each generation transmits its culture to the next generation.
Cultural diffusion
The phenomenon that cultures are inevitably influenced by other cultures
Cultural contact
Contact between peoples with different cultures usually leading to change to both systems
Culture shock
The feeling people get when their assumptions are jolted through contact with an unfamiliar culture that supports different expectations
Chain migration
the pattern of settling in an are already containing, family, friends, or compatriots that immigrants usually follow
Parallel social institutions
clubs, organizations, newspapers, schools, churches, stores duplicating those of the host society appear creating a cohesiveness within a minority subculture
Ethnic subcultures
immigrants develop a group consciousness unknown in their old countries
Convergent subcultures
Some ethnic subcultures tend toward assimilation with the dominant society
Marginality
living under stress in two cultures simultaneously
Persistent subcultures
The cultures that do not assimilate whether from not wanting to or not being able to
Assimilation (majority-conformity) theory
Refers to the functioning within a society of racial or ethnic minority-group members who no longer posses any marked cultural, social, or personal differences from those of the dominant group.
The Americanization movement
government and private agencies encouraging immigrants to immediately adopt US practices: citizenship, reverence for US institutions, and the english language Started during WW1
Cultural Assimilation (acculturation)
The changes of cultural patterns to match those of the host society
Marital assimilation (amalgamation)
Large scale intermarriage with members of the majority society
structural assimilation
large scale entrance into the cliques, clubs, and institutions of the host society on a primary group level
The best ways to tell the extent of acceptance of minority groups in the larger society?
Acculturation, amalgamation, structural assimilation
Primary structural assimilation
Typically involves close, personal interactions among dominant and minority group members in small group settings such as parties, social clubs, and other interactive gatherings
Secondary Structural assimilation
Typically involves the more impersonal public sphere of interaction such as intergroup mingling in civic, recreational, school, or work environments
Amalgamation AKA the melting pot theory
All diverse peoples blend their biological and cultural differences (through intermarriage and creation of new culture) into a new breed- the American
Anglo-conformity
being remade according to the the idealized anglo saxon mold
Accommodation (pluralistic) theory
Recognizes the persistence of racial and ethnic diversity
Horace Keller
generally recognized as the first exponent of cultural pluralism
Cultural pluralism
two or more culturally distinct groups living in the same society in relative harmony-has been the more noticeable form of pluralism
Structural pluralism
the coexistence of racial and ethnic groups in sub societies within social class and regional boundaries- less noticeable than cultural pluralism
