Acquiring Culture Terms - Sociology AS WJEC

Culture

The way of life of a group of people, including their norms, values, customs and traditions

material culture

Physical things people create and attach emotional meaning to

Non-materal Culture

Ideas people share. Rules, traditions, languages, and history

Social construct

An idea/way of life that has been created and accepted by people in society

collectivist cultures

Emphasise belonging to the group as more important than personal freedom

Individualist Cultures

Emphasise individual freedom and personal gain, sometimes at the expense of others

Cultural Diversity

having a variety of cultures in the same area

Deviant

a person who breaks significant societal or group norms

social control

Rules that we follow to conform to the expectations of society

Formal Control

institutions enforcing appropriate behaviour. E.g. - legal system + police

Informal Control

internalisation of moral codes

Socialisation

The process of acquiring values, attitudes and behaviours through interacting with others.

Norms

Snared rules and expectations that guide behaviour

Mores

A stronger form of norms e.g. Murder is wrong

Values

Beliefs held about what is important (linked to morals)

Beliefs

The principles and values that guide behaviour

Roles

the behaviors, obligations, and privileges attached to a status

Status

A social position that a person holds

Social Change

the transformation of culture and social institutions over time

Nativism

Argue that the social characteristics of people have arisen through evolution

Nature Theory

Human behaviour is prompted by biology rather than society

Biological imperative

Things that must be done to survive - sleep, eat

Nurture Theory

Society and culture override human genetics and instincts

Talcott Parsons + socialisation

3 Stages to socialisation - primary, secondary, & tertiary

Primary socialisation

First stage of socialisation where the norms and values are taught to a child within the family

Secondary socialisation

Being taught how to behave by people in the wider world.

Talcott believed this helped the individual develop a separate identity in order to deal with strangers

Tertiary socialisation

This is adult socialisation and takes place when people need to adapt to new situations such as becoming a parent, changing jobs, coping with illness or disability or retirement.

Formal socialisation

When people or organisations deliberately set out to teach norms and values

Informal socialisation

People learn to fit into their culture by watching and learning from others around them

Agency of socialisation

A social organisation that teaches people how to behave in society

Family, Education, Media, Peers, Religion, Work

Pierre Bourdieu + Habitus

Social situation in which we feel comfortable and at home

imitation

Children learn social skills by watching + copying their parents

Role models

people we admire and whose behavior we imitate. Children encouraged to act like the same-sex parent

Parsons + marriage

Stabalisation of the adult personality. Male has an instrumental role, women have an expressive.

Criticised by feminists

Peer Groups

People who are the same age + status

early friendships

Form friendships around age 3 or 4. Develop group norms + values

Iona + Peter Opie

Children often had street culture from which adults were excluded and that this developed through play

peer pressure

Process where people modify their behaviour to fit in with the group

Formal curriculum

What students learn in their timetabled lessons, for example, maths and English.

hidden curriculum

Standards of behavior that are deemed proper by society and are taught subtly in schools.

collective conscience (Durkheim)

the communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society. Impossible to have any form of social life without a set of socially accepted and shared norms and values

Parental faith

In religious families, children will be profoundly affected by the beliefs of their parents

Copycat behavior (Albert Bandura)

Direct link between exposure to watching violence and violent play among children

Hypodermic syringe model

Suggests the media has a direct effect on our behaviour; the media injects our behaviour like a needle. Early Marxist theory

primary identity

our sense of self

secondary identity

consists of the roles we play in society

Significant Other (Sullivan)

A person, or group of people, who have a major influence on a person's sense of self-identity

Manipulation (Oakley)

Parents encourage behaviour that is normal for the gender and discourage what is seen as abnormal

Canalisation (Oakley)

Boys and girls are channelled into appropriate activities, so boys are given 'male' toys that encourage physical activity and girls are offered dolls to encourage caring.

Verbal appellation (Oakley)

Girls will be called 'angel' and 'princess' whereas boys are often 'little monster' or other aggressive names

Different Activities (Oakley)

Girls are taken to dance class or kept at home to help while boys are sent to play or taken to football training

Statham (1986)

Even if parents avoid purposeful gender socialisation, cultural and social expectations were so powerful that children still behave in gendered ways because of the powerful influence of secondary socialisation

Judith Butler (1990)

Media stereotyping of gender roles is so powerful it's difficult to avoid gender socialisation and gendered behaviour

Social Class

a group of people with similar backgrounds, incomes, and ways of living

Middle Class

Generally employed in professional work, have good incomes, high level of education

Working class

Fewer educational qualifications and who work in jobs where they're paid wages

Savage (1992)

Lifestyles of people differ from those of the working class

Charlesworth (1999)

Claimed people had always gained class identity from work. In recent years, couldn't rely on gaining the kind of jobs that had traditionally given them pride. Therefore experienced lives of negativity, lack of culture, and overexposure to media.