CULTURE, NORMS & VALUES Flashcards
How do sociologists define culture?
The entire way of life of a particular society. Whole system of behaviour and beliefs of a society or group.
What does culture mean for the Harmar Tribe in Ethiopia? Give an example.
Culture is rich in ceremony and ritual.
To reach adulthood, Harmar males must perform a ceremony where they leap onto the backs of cattle.
What are values?
Beliefs and ideas that society sees as important, and that are accepted by the majority of society.
What are norms?
Expected patterns of behaviour that are based on the values of a culture.
Give some examples of values.
Educational achievement, obedience, respect, conformity, knowledge etc.
Give some examples of norms.
Listen, punctuality, ask and answer questions, try your best, do homework. Would all be normalised in an educational institution.
Who studied the Tchabuli tribe?
Mead.
How are norms and values linked?
The reason we perform certain behaviour is because we hold certain beliefs.
What is meant by the proposition that all norms and values are ‘relative’?
They are not fixed, and are not the same for all people and in all situations.
What is meant by cultural diversity?
Refers to the differences and variety found in societies.
What is meant by the UK being culturally diverse?
Variety of norms and values within UK culture: ‘intercultural diversity’.
What is a subculture?
‘A culture within a culture’.
What is cultural hybridity?
When cultures merge. UK culture is often described as hybrid because it contains aspects of English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish culture.
What is high culture?
Refers to cultural products and activities that are seen to have a very high status.
Give some examples of high culture.
Shakespearean plays, classical music, opera, ballet and art.
What is popular culture?
Refers to cultural products and activities that are enjoyed by majority of the population.
Why do some feel that popular culture is manufactured?
See it as a form of brainwashing or ‘dumbing down’ of the masses.
What is consumer culture?
A result of the increasing availability of, and emphasis on, the consumption of goods and services.
What is the issue with excessive consumption?
Excessive consumption and the debt created by it is accepted by society and regarded as ‘normal’.
What is global culture?
The growing trend of cultural products and activities becoming ‘universal’.
What is global culture linked to?
Globalisation - the process by which the world becomes more interconnected, and activities in different countries influence each other.
Cultural Hybridity & Subculture - 3 sociologists.
Vale & Juno
Hebidge
Johal
Hutniyk - consumer culture and subculture
Western subcultures strip meaning from cultural symbols.
High Culture - sociologist
MacIntosh and Mooney - ‘social closure’.
