soci quiz 2 Flashcards
Culture
values, beliefs and traditions associated with a group of people
-food and festivals
-spirituality and religion
-art
-practices and values
-sacred items
-knowledge
-Cultures are dynamic and change over time
-Culture and its elements are CONTESTED : there is little agreement as to who and what belongs to a culture
-One point of contestation is authenticity or what is true to a particular group
Cultural typology
Types of cultures can be distinguished along two central oppositions
-dominant culture vs. subculture & counterculture
-high culture vs. popular culture & mass culture
Dominant culture
Through political and economic power is able to impose its values, language, and ways of behaving and interpreting behaviour on a given society
Canadas dominants are white, male, English speaking, heterosexual, university grads, between ages of 30-55
Minority cultures
Those who fall outside cultural mainstream
2 categories that fall under it:
-countercultures
-subcultures
Counter cultures
Minority cultures that feel the power of the dominant culture and exist in opposition to it
ex. clothing styles, sexual norms, hippies, alternative fashion and music
Subcultures
Minority cultures that differ in some ways from the dominant culture but dont directly oppose it
ex. groups organized around hobbies or occupations
High culture
Culture of the elite, a distinct minority
Associated with the arts
ex. theatre, operas, ballet, classical music
Pop culture
Culture of the majority, especially those who do not have power
ex. the working class, the less educated, women and racialized minorities
Mass culture
Refers to people who have little or no agency in the culture they consume
ex. big companies dictate what people watch, value, buy, believe
created by those in power for the masses
Simulacra
Jean Baudrillard
feature of mass culture
simulacra are stereotypically cultural images produced or reproduced like material goods or commodities by the media and sometimes by scholars
ex. inuits represented through igloos, kayaks etc..
Simulacra are hyperreal, thus considered more likely real than what exists
Decipherment
Involves looking in a text for the definitive interpretation, for the purpose the culture industry had in mind when creating the text
Reading
The process in which people treat what is provided by the culture industry as a resource, a text to be interpreted as they see fit
Norms
Expected rules or standards of behaviour that are expected of a group, society, or culture
Norms may be contested along the lines of ethnicity, race, genders and age
norms are expressed in culture
Sanctions
Positive sanctions
- rewards or punishments for doing “the right thing”
ex. smiles or high fives
Negative sanctions
-reactions designed to tell offenders that they have violated a norm
ex. eye roll, glare, parking ticket
Folkway
Folkways or ettiquittes are norms that govern everyday matters
norms we should not violate
weakly sanctions
ex.double dipping
Morals
More serious than folkways
often formalize norms we must not violate
violations are met with serious sanctions
ex. rape, stealing
Taboos
Norms that are so deeply ingrained in our social consciousness that the mere thought or mention of it is enough the arouse disgust
ex. incest, child pornography
Cultural symbols
Symbols are items that held significance for a culture
ex. seal hunt, Canadian anthem
Symbols can change over time
Values
the standards used by a culture to describe abstract qualities such as goodness, beauty, and justice
Ideal culture
what people believe in
ex. environmentalism
Actual culture
what really exists
ex. driving large suvs
Ethnocentrism
Occurs when someone thinks a certain culture (usually their own) is best and uses it as the standard to judge other cultures
often the product of the lack of knowledge
has played a role in colonizing nations- imposing their political, economic, and religious beliefs onto indigenous lands and people they “discovered”
Eurocentrism
Involves addressing others from a broadly defined European position
Cultural globalization
Intensification and expansion of cultural flows across the globe
The “americanization” of the world or the danger of the one-directional flow could be problematic
Cultural Relativism
An approach to studying and understanding an aspect of another culture within its proper social, historical, and environmental context
Presentism
the ability to judge figures of the past within their own time, instead we judge them by todays standards
Socialization
A lifelong learning process that involves figuring out or being taught how to be a social person in each society
brings changes in an individuals sense of self
Primary socialization
socialization that occurs during childhood
secondary socialization
socialization that occurs later in life
sociolinguistics
study of language as a part of culture
language is key to the communication and transmission of culture
looks at language in relation to sociological factors like race, ethnicity, age, gender and region
dialect
A variety of language that differs from others in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar
Sapir-whorf hypothesis
Describes the relationship between language and culture
language, words and meanings are cultural specific therefore language outside of cultural context doesn’t make sense
linguistic determinism
Suggests the way we view and understand the world is shaped by the language we speak
Determinism
Nature vs nurture
Central to any discussion of socialization
2 topics
Determinism vs. free will
Biological determinism(nature) vs. Social determinism( nurture)
Determinism refers to the degree to which an individuals behaviours, attitudes and other personal characteristics are determined by something specific
Biological determinism
“nature” in the nature vs. nurture
states that who we are is determined by genetics
ex. if we are good at sports or music or art that is because we are genetically predisposed
Sigmund Freud
Argued that both biological and social factors shape human personality
Mind has 3 parts
-Id- represents our unconscious instinctive drives
-eros- life drive dedicated to pleasure seeking
-Thanatos- death wish the instinct for aggression and violence
-Superego- part of your mind that polices your id
-your conscious
-internalized moral messages
-ego-main agent of personality, driven by the id and its demands but restrained by the superego
Erik Erikson
recognized the influence that society has on ego development well into old age
each stage in life is defined by a central crisis
Behaviorist
School of thought that takes a strong cultural-determinist position
“nurture” in the nature vs. nurture
emphasizes the power of learning in the development of behaviour
Behaviour modification
shaping someones behaviour through rewards and punishment
Edward Thondike called this the law of effect
Desired behaviours are rewarded and reinforced
undesired behaviours are ignored and abandoned
2 agents of socialization
signified others:
-key individuals-parents grandparents, siblings, friends whom young children model themselves after
generalized others:
-attitudes, viewpoints and general expectations of the society into which the child is socialized
3 stages of socialization of a child
prepatory stage- involves the imitation on the part of the child
play stage- child engages in role-taking and assumes the perspective of significant others
ex. parents, grandparents, siblings
game stage- the child is able to consider several roles and viewpoints simultaneously
Looking glass self
Charles Cooley introduced this as a way to explain how the self develops
the individuals self image is based on how a person thinks they are viewed by others
3 components
- how you imagine you appear to others
-how you imagine those others judge your appearance
-how you feel as a result (self confidence, proud etc)
Family
First and most often powerful agent of socialization
socialization of a child is a key function of family
Peer group
Social group sharing key characteristics
peer pressure
peer pressure is socialization in action
Community and neighbourhood
can be important
things like city vs, small town vs. suburbs and rich.vs poor vs. mixed neighbourhoods affect a child
Mass media
One of the most powerful agents of socialization in contemporary sense
mass media influences our behaviour
suggests that violence exposure on tv desensitizes people
Observational theory
Children acquire aggressive scripts for solving social problems by watching violence on tv
Desensitization theory
increased exposure to tv violence desensitizes the natural negative reaction to violence
Habitus
a wide ranging set of manners set
set of socially squires characteristics
ex. manners, good taste
Reproduction
The means by which classes preserve status difference among classes
Education
another powerful socializing agent
schools are often the first source of information that a child receives about a social group other than their own
socialized thru textbooks, curriculums and social environment of classroom
issues of socialization
David Elkind argues that todays children have lost free play and instead have rigid scheduled activities
over programming and kids feel adult level stress
digital communication creates generational gaps
secondary socialization
usually occurs during early childhood and adolescence
takes place outside the family and involves a group smaller than a society
ex.new school, neighbourhood
resocialization
the process of unlearning old behaviours, attitudes and values and learning new ones
can either be voluntary or involuntary
voluntary resocialization
occurs when some starts school, changes school, starts a new job, undergoes religious conversion
often marked as a rite of passage/ ritual
involuntary resocialization
occurs when someone is forced to change
resocialize by regulating all aspects of ones life
ex. residential schools, degradation ceremonies, unlearning
Hazing as resocialization
entails resocializing new members of a group or organization such a as a frat or sports team
often entails enduring demeaning or uncomfortable experiences
typically involves ritual humiliation of rookie members by veterans
Dennis Wrong
argued that behaviourists worked with an overspecialized representation of human beings
