Quiz #2 - Topic 3 & 4 Flashcards
1
Q
Culture
A
- a system of behaviours, beliefs,
knowledges, practices, values, concrete materials
including buildings, tools, and sacred items - change over time
- Always contested - not everyone agrees on what specific cultures are
2
Q
Dominant culture
A
- the culture that, through its
political and economic power, is able to impose its values, language, and ways of behaving and interpreting
behaviour on a given society - dominants are those closely linked with the cultural mainstream
3
Q
Minority Cultures
A
- those that fall outside the
cultural mainstream - have two classifications:
1. countercultures
2. subcultures
4
Q
Countercultures
A
minority cultures that feel the
power of the dominant culture and exist in opposition
5
Q
Subcultures
A
minority cultures that differ in some
way from the dominant culture but don’t directly oppose it.
6
Q
High culture
A
- the culture of the elite, a distinct
minority - associated with the arts
- requires what Pierre Bourdieu called cultural capital: a set of skills and knowledge needed to acquire the sophisticated tastes that mark someone as a person of high
culture
7
Q
Popular culture
A
- culture of the majority,
especially those who do not have power - Ex. woman, the working class
8
Q
Mass culture
A
- the culture that people have little say in choosing
- Ex. companies choose much of our media intake
- Simulacra or the stereotypical cultural images produced and reproduced like material goods or commodities by the media and sometimes by scholars is present in mass culture - tends to be hyperreal - the stereotypes created and reproduced to represent a culture
9
Q
Popular culture vs Mass culture
A
- in mass culture people lose agency or the ability to choose the culture they consume
- in popular culture people are still autonomous
10
Q
Cultural Norms
A
- rules and expectations of a society/culture
- represented through ceremonies and symbols that reflect the interests and ways of the culture
- ex/ our society of weddings and white dresses
- change over time
- differ between cultures
11
Q
Sanctions
A
- rewards and punishments for behaviors
- Positive: high five, bonus
- negative: dirty look, prison
12
Q
Folkways
A
- norms that govern day-to-day
matters - best not to violate
- weakly governed
- ex, double dipping food
13
Q
Mores
A
- more serious than folkways
- formalized norms we must not violate
- violations are met with much more serious punishments
- complicated and often contested
- ex/ stealing
14
Q
Taboos
A
- norms that are so deeply ingrained in our social consciousness that the mere thought or mention of it is enough to arouse disgust or revulsion
- Ex/ insest
15
Q
Symbols
A
- cultural items that hold significance for a culture or subculture
- can be:
1. concrete (tangible) like the maple leaf
2. Abstract like a national anthem - they change overtime
16
Q
Values
A
- standards used by a culture to describe abstract qualities such as goodness, beauty, and justice and to assess the behaviour of others
17
Q
Ideal vs Actual culture
A
- Ideal culture: is what people believe in (e.g., environmentalism)
- Actual culture: what really exists(e.g., driving large SUVs)
18
Q
Ethnocentrism
A
- someone holds up one culture—usually their own—as being the standard by which all cultures are to be judged
- product of a lack of knowledge
or ignorance - played a role in the colonizing efforts of powerful nations imposing their political, economic, and
religious beliefs on the Indigenous populations of lands they “discovered.”
19
Q
Eurocentrism
A
- addressing others culturally from a european standpoint with the assumption that all cultures want to be part of it
- caused assimilation of north american indigenous peoples
20
Q
Cultural Globalization
A
- Cultural globalization is the intensification and expansion of cultural flows across the globe
- Americanization or one directional flow poses as a concern
21
Q
Cultural Relativism
A
- approach to studying and
understanding an aspect of another culture within its proper social, historical, and environmental context - we can’t let our own cultural standards influence this
- becomes problematic when
studying historical practices and views that were once widespread but are now considered offensive - the ability to judge figures of the
past within their own time and not by today’s standards
22
Q
Presentism
A
- the inability to judge figures of the past within their own time, instead we judge them by today’s standards
23
Q
Sociolinguistics
A
- the study of language as part of
culture - language is the key to the communication of culture
- relates language to other social factors like ethnicity, age, gender
24
Q
Dialect
A
- a variety of a language that differs from others in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar
- distinctions are a product of linguistic and social factors
25
Q
Sapir–Whorf hypothesis
A
- describes the relationship
between language and culture - language is comprised of words that when given meaning make up our culture
26
Q
Linguistic determinism
A
- suggests that the way we view
and understand the world is shaped by the language we speak - ex/ gendered pronouns
27
Q
Socialization
A
- lifelong learning process that involves figuring out or being taught how to be a social person in each society
- changes sense of self
28
Q
Primary socialization
A
- socialization that occurs during childhood
29
Q
Secondary socialization
A
- socialization that occurs later in life
30
Q
Determinism
A
- degree to which a person’s behaviors, attitudes and characteristics are determined by something specific
31
Q
Biological determination
A
- the nature in “nature vs nurture”
- the way that we are is predetermined by genetic components
32
Q
Behaviourism
A
- the nurture in “nature vs nurture”
- ## believes in the power of learning in shaping individuals
33
Q
Sigmund Freud: Balancing the
Biological and the Socio-Cultural
A
- Argued that there was a mix of biological and social determination
- Idea that the human mind has 3 parts:
1. Id - unconscious and instinctive drives [Eros (life drive dedicated to pleasure seeking)and Thanatos (death wish the instinct for aggression and violence)]
2. Superego - part of the mind that polices your subconscious (moral messages)
3. Ego - main traits of your personality determined by Id and limited by superego
34
Q
Erik Erikson
A
- recognized the influence that society has on ego development well into old age
- believed that each stage in life is defined by a central crisis that impacts the individual and changes them
35
Q
Behavioral Modification
A
- shaping behaviours through reward and punishment
- Edward Thorndike called in law of effect
36
Q
Agents of Socialization
A
- groups that have a significant impact on one’s socialization
- impacts of different agents are contested
37
Q
Categories of agents of socialization
A
- George Herbert Mead coined these
1. significant others: key individuals, parents, siblings, etc that young kids will model behaviors after
2. Generalized others: attitudes, viewpoints, expectations in the society that a child is socialized in
38
Q
3 stages of socialization
A
- Also coined by Mead
1. Preparatory stage: involves imitation by the child
2. Play stage: role-taking and assumes perspective of significant others
3. game stage: child can consider several roles simultaneously
39
Q
Looking Glass Self
A
- charles cooley
- explains how the self develops
- 3 components of self image:
1. how you imagine you appear to others
2. how you imagine those others judge your appearance
3. how you feel as a result
40
Q
Family
A
- first and most powerful agent of socialization
- function of family is to socialize children
- approach to socialize varies between families
41
Q
Peer Group
A
- social group that shares characteristics like age, social position, and interests
- peer pressure comes into play causing people to act certain ways
42
Q
Community and Neighborhood
A
- important for adolescent socialization
- rich vs poor or suburb vs small town
- depending on where they live, children are more or less likely to engage in certain damaging behaviors
43
Q
Mass Media
A
- presently this is taking over as one of if not the key agent of socialization
- Violence in the media is widely debated as it is seen to desensitize or on the flip side, a safe outlet for hostile emotions
44
Q
Rowell Huesmann’s longitudinal studies
A
- relationship between violent TV watching and violent behaviour (concluded that there is in fact a connection)
- two theories to explain this
1. observational learning theory: children acquire aggressive scripts for solving problems by watching violence on TV
2. desensitization theory: increased exposure to TV violence numbs instincts towards violence
45
Q
Jib Fowles & Pierre Bourdieu
A
- argues that discussions about TV violence are actually about cultural conflict
- draws on pierre bourdieu and his concepts in habitus and reproduction
1. Habitus - a wide-ranging set of socially acquired characteristics
2. reproduction - means by which classes preserve status differences - argues that condemnation of TV violence is aimed to reproduce habitus of the dominant class by condemning their habits (violence is looked at as lower class issues)
46
Q
Education
A
- powerful socializing agent
- schools are the first time children receive information about social groups that are not their own
- socialized through teachers, curriculums, textbooks, and peers
- a teachers social location can have a powerful effect on the educational socialization of a child
47
Q
Gender issues in Education
A
- observable differences in educational performance between genders as a result of differential socialization
- Idea that men are more STEM oriented and women are better and language and literature
- discouraged to take on roles viewed for the opposite sex
48
Q
Hurried child syndrome
A
- coined by David Elkind
- argues that today’s children have lost free play and instead have to much programming
- kids are over stressed
- digital communication also creates generational gaps, kids and parents use dif tech, and tech makes adult content accessible to children
49
Q
Secondary Socialization
A
- occurs in adolescence and early adulthood
- takes place outside of the family but involves groups smaller than societye
- e.g., new school or neighborhood
50
Q
Resocialization
A
- process of unlearning old behaviours, attitudes, and values to make room for new ones upon moving into significantly diff social environment
- Voluntary:new job, school, etc and is seen as a rite of passage
- Involuntary: when someone is forced to change (total institutions)
51
Q
Hazing as resocialization
A
- re-socializes
- entails enduring demeaning or uncomfortable experiences
- traditionally more of a male activity
- sometimes crosses over into abuse
