culture and socialisation Flashcards
society
the people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture
culture
the ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular people or society
diversity
people from different backgrounds and cultures living together
material culture
physical things that people create and attach emotional meaning to (e.g. clothing, food)
non-material culture
refers to the ideas that people share (e.g. rules, traditions, languages)
social construction
an idea that is created and given special meaning by people
collectivist cultures
cultures that tend to emphasise belonging to the group as more important than personal freedom (e.g. china)
individualistic cultures
cultures which tend to emphasise individual freedom and personal gain, sometimes at the expense of others (e.g. usa)
socialisation
the process through which we learn society’s norms and values
types of socialisation
— primary socialisation
— secondary socialisation
— tertiary socialisation
― gender socialisation
primary socialisation
usually performed by family and teaches children norms and values specific to a group
secondary socialisation
performed by other social institutions (such as education, media, religion) and these pass on universal norms and values
tertiary socialisation
the process of adapting to new roles and learning new norms and values in adult life
gender socialisation
teaches us the norms and values expected of different genders (referred to as canalisation)
how do functionalists view socialisation?
they view socialisation as the key to having a functioning society ― it is essential that we understand the value consensus
how do marxists and feminists view socialisation?
they argue we are socialised into norms and values of dominant groups and this is a form of social control
problems with defining culture
— value of different behaviours is down to individual interpretations which makes value consensus difficult
― rapidly changing norms and values leads to culture changing at a pace that many cannot understand
— definitions of culture vary across groups, nations, and overtime
social control
the ways out behaviours and actions are regulated
informal control
the response we get from those around us who persuade us to the unwritten rules of society
formal control
the use of the law and force to control our behaviour. this is socially constructed but can change over time
norms
the expected behaviours for a culture. a norm in one culture may not be normal in another (e.g. in the UK we do not chose to eat insects, whereas some cultures value insect protein such as maori)
mores
ways of behaving that are seen as good or moral (e.g. most people who agree stealing from old people is wrong, thus those who do have broken a moral taboo)
values
linked to the concept of non-material culture. they are the basic rules shared by most people in a culture (e.g. people feel that they should have the right to say what they feel about a government; freedom of speech is a value)
beliefs
many of us take our system of values and morals from our own personal beliefs about society
roles
the expected behaviours for any situation that we may find ourselves in (e.g. teachers are expected to tell children how to behave, so most of the time children do as they’re told)
