American Culture Exam 2

Society

A large group of people who are relatively autonomous & share a common heritage

Building blocks of society

Instituitons, groups, roles, and status

Sociocultural evolution

Going from simple to complex societies

1. hunting and gathering

2. horticultural

3. pastoral

4. agricultural

5. industrial & information

Norms

Rules that guide social behavior and enforced by sanctions

Values

Socially shared ideas about what is good and desirable in life

Culture

The language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, & material objects passed on from one generation to the next

• cannot exist without symbols and language

5 characteristics of culture

1. emergent process

2. learned behavior

3. directs our behavior

4. boundary maintained

5. paradox

Folkways

Weak norms that specify expectations about proper behavior

Mores

Norms of great social significance which illicit strong, emotional reactions from other members of society

Cultural Universals

food-getting technology, housing, language, art, incest tabboos

Core U.S. Values

1. achievement and success

2. individualism

3. science and technology

4. material comfort

5. democracy

6. education

7. romantic love

8. freedom

McDonaldization

Process by which a chain restraunts principles of operation are now dominating sectors of the U.S. and the world

• 1:2,500

1. efficiency

2. quantified and calculated

3. predictability

4. control

Structural functionalism

Society is interdependent parts that performs for society as a whole

• macro

• Durkheim

• manifest & latent

• FREEP

Conflict Theory

Portrays society as always changing and marked by conflict

• inequality leads to conflict and groups compete over scarce resources

• marx

• macro

Symbolic Interactions

People assign meanings to words and actions

• social psychology

• Goffman

• Micro