The Concept of Culture Flashcards
Attributes of Culture
Learned, shared, dynamic, an interrelated system and is our primary means of adaptation
Culture is Learned
acquired, taught by other people, not biological.
Modes of transmission
Vertical - From the independent to the dependent eg. Parents to children
Horizontal - Between peers
Oblique - one to many, the media, advertisement
Vertical transmission
Most direct and active in certain cultures and realms
* Language
* World views, belief systems, religions
* Ideas of family and kinship
* Core values of a society (ex: freedom in the US)
* Cultural lag - tend to have the hardest time changing (slower)
Horizontal transmission
More active & change very rapidly
* Style/fashion
* Music
* Drugs and alcohol
* Social media increases the spread
Oblique Transmission
Can be both positive and negative - Ex: hitler or MLK
“the Clean Revolution,” Listerine (1920-30s)
began when Listerine advertised mouthwash as a way that said social ills will follow if you don’t use the product. It was a poster of a woman crying because she couldn’t be a bride for not using listerine. This got a bunch of new products to be released to make the breath smell better. This followed with a bunch of other cleaning products.
* During the great depression
* This cut infant mortality in half
* Made up the word halitosis (bad breath)
Culture is Shared
everyone participates, is egalitarian, must be transmitted from one person to the next
Culture is Dynamic
Always changing
9/11 & airports, football games, concerts, security= Response to a Critical event
* Affected people’s psyche → More security
* A lot of people tried to bring bombs in
* Patriot act
* A form of oblique transmission
COVID
Fashion, bathing practice, religion., music
* Mostly because of horizontal
transmission
* Contact with the world influence the rapidness of spreading
Technological Change
Affects Language
- Phones & computers were rapidly advancing & became a status symbol
- New words introduced - Gigabyte, megabyte & slang on social media (faster horizontal transmission)
Ogburn
Proposed Cultural lag - tend to have the hardest time changing (slower)
Culture is an Interrelated System
The idea that cultural traits are not random occurrences, they are mostly adjusted to, or consistent with the other cultural traits found within the group.
Economics, culture, etc are all connected and will influence each other
Social psychology
inherit behavior for humans to modify things to be consistent with each other
Children and cognitive consistency
Children detect inconsistencies and tend to rebel against change (want to remain consistent)
EX: bed time changing, being upset over not being able to visit a friend’s house
Sue Fisher’s study of Hispanic versus Non-Hispanic White Women and Reproductive Cancer in So. Calif
did a pap smear that shows that they all had abnormal cells. After talking to the women about their visits, they found that the non-hispanic women were having a lot better healthcare. The doctors somehow didn’t know these biases.
Types of Reproductive cancer removal
Conozation - the removal of invasive cells
Cryosurgery - more invasive but doesn’t really affect women’s fertility. Freezes cells.
Hysterectomy - most radical intervention. Removal of the uterus. Causes a lot of issues in health.
Outcome of Sue Fisher’s study of Hispanic versus Non-Hispanic White Women and Reproductive Cancer in So. Calif.
- Most hispanic women received hysterectomy because the government was paying for this. Maybe because of race that assumed that they couldn’t pay for another treatment
- Led to changes in informed consent laws across the country - the patient must know all the risks.
- Changes in standard protocol - always try the least invasive first
- Changes having insurance pay for all the treatments
(economic changes)
Culture is our Primary Means of Adaptation (what is adaptation & the avenues?)
Any trait or condition that maximizes an organism’s ability to meet its basic physiological needs, and to successfully reproduce
Genetic, developmental, Cultural
Genetic Adaptation (sickle cell anemia)
offers immunity to malaria. It is a mutation of the red blood cells into a sickle shape.
- Malaria kills at a young age so those without sickle cell can’t pass on genes
- Malaria wasn’t an issue till agricultural systems started being put in forests full of mosquitoes. This also started making large populations gather to have malaria spread.
- Culturally forced genetic change
Developmental Adaptation
change that occurs during a lifetime. Adaptation of different environments
Examples of Developmental adaptation
Enhanced Vasoconstriction/dilation - the ability to push blood in a more forceful manner into limbs.
* 1940’s tests. Eskimos (people exposed to cold) vs lower 48, hands submerged in ice water, skin surface surface temperature changes= graduated/arrested vs straight drop. These changes affect those who are born in that environment.
* Hypoxia in Peru - high altitudes so less immune to hypoxia
Cultural adaptation
satisfy basic needs and wants, psychological, social, emotional, as well as physical.
Example of cultural adaptation in humans
adapting because of our physical needs.
We lost our ability to survive in the wild because our culture allows us to
* Needing clothes, housing, etc
* Surviving underwater, in space, etc
Latent versus Manifest Function
the real purpose vs believed purpose
EX: Ayahuasca & harmine
