Chapter 6 Notes: Culture & The Physical Environment (Hutchison 2017/2021)
The Challenge of Defining Culture
World population exceeds 7\times 10^{9} people; more than 3.13\times 10^{8} (313 million) live in the United States. The United States is the third-most-populated country.
U.S. population composition (approximate figures):
White (non-Hispanic): 1.99\times 10^{8}
Hispanics/Latinos: 4.6\times 10^{7}
African Americans/Blacks: 3.7\times 10^{7}
Asians: 1.3\times 10^{7}
American Indians and Alaska Natives (with Native Hawaiian, other Pacific Islanders, and others making up the rest)
Foreign-born: 4.0\times 10^{7}
Teal states: immigrant population growth of 15% or higher (source: Migration Policy Institute tabulation of the U.S. Census Bureau data from 2010 and 2016 ACS).
Definitions/discussions of culture reflect definers’ theoretical perspectives and purposes; culture is the medium through which we construct meanings about the social and material world.
Changing Ideas About Culture and Human Behavior
Ideas about culture change over time, in sync with intellectual, social, economic, and political trends.
Biological determinism: attempts to differentiate social behavior by biology/genetic endowment.
Othering: labeling those outside one’s own group as abnormal, inferior, or marginal.
Cultural Concepts
Material culture: physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture.
Enculturation: learning a culture that has been created and shaped by human interactions over time.
Hallmark of culture: it is shared by a group of people.
Human Agency
Human agency: the capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices.
Theories of Culture: The Materialist Perspective
Materialist perspective
Cultural ecology
Cultural adaptation
Theories of Culture: The Mentalist Perspective
Mentalist perspective: humans create, maintain, and change culture based on beliefs, values, language, and symbolic representations.
Differing positions on human agency: interpretive anthropology, culturalism, structuralism.
Related concepts: semiotics, poststructuralism, postmodernism.
A Postmodern View of Culture
Truth and meaning are based on perspective.
Culture of poverty: originally used to discuss poor people’s life ways in adapting to harsh circumstances; used to argue for and against publicly financed social programs.
Redlining: discriminatory housing practice reflected in maps and policy.
Interactive Redlining Map
Example: interactive mapping of redlining in New Deal America (NPR); demonstrates history of discrimination in housing and lending.
Other Theories: Practice Orientation
Practice orientation emphasizes what people do as thinking, acting agents within historical constraints and social structures.
How social systems shape, guide, and direct values, beliefs, and behavior; how people reproduce or change social systems.
History is made within constraints of Social, Political, Economic, Physical, and Biological systems; cognitive, emotional, and behavioral frameworks are mapped onto who we are.
Cultural hegemony arises when one set of values/beliefs/meanings dominates.
Major Concepts in the Study of Culture: Values
Values: beliefs about what is important/desirable, right/wrong; what is valued in a culture.
Customary Social Habits and Ethical Considerations
Customary social habits intersect with social work principles, values, and ethics.
Concepts in the Study of Culture: Language
Language: system of words/signs to express thoughts and feelings.
Norms: culturally defined rules guiding behavior; informal norms and formalized laws (folkways & mores).
More Important Culture Concepts
Ideology: dominant ideas about how things are and should work; what is appropriate/acceptable.
Ethnocentrism: tendency to elevate one’s own ethnic group/culture over others.
Cultural symbols: symbols (verbal or nonverbal) that stand for something else.
Worldview: cognitive domain; what we think about things.
Subcultures & Countercultures
Subcultures: groups that accept much of the dominant culture but distinguish themselves by one or more significant characteristics.
Counterculture: differs from and rejects the norms/values of the larger culture.
Ideal Culture Versus Real Culture
Ideal culture: desirable values and practices.
Real culture: actual behavior and values.
Examples: "Till Death Do Us Part" vs high divorce rates; "Drink Responsibly" vs binge drinking.
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Ethnocentrism vs Cultural Relativism; implicit bias; xenophobia.
Culture and Power (1 of 7) Embedding of Power in Culture
Power: ability to act in a chosen way; direct/influence others.
Hegemony: cultural leadership/dominance, including media portrayals of gender and masculinity.
Culture and Power (2 of 7) Social Identities Embedded in Power Dynamics
Race: notions of superiority/inferiority; racialization; white supremacy; racism.
Culture and Power (3 of 7) Ethnicity and Identity
Ethnicity; ethnic identity; assimilation; multiculturalism.
Culture and Power (4 of 7) Gender
Gender; sex; intersex; transgender.
Culture and Power (5 of 7) Sexuality
Sexuality: physiological process and cultural construction; sexuality and power; issues such as sexual assault, sex trafficking, and rape culture.
Culture and Power (6 of 7) Social Class
Social class: based on wealth, income, social position; various anthropological definitions; culture of poverty model.
Culture and Power (7 of 7) Disability
Disability: traditional model, medical model, social model.
Genes and Culture
Gene–culture coevolutionary theory (GCT).
How Culture Changes
Innovation
Primary innovation
Secondary innovation
Diffusion
Cultural loss
Processes of Cultural Change
Assimilation
Accommodation
Acculturation
Bicultural socialization
Assimilation and Acculturation (Key Concepts)
Assimilation: becoming part of the dominant culture; giving up home culture/language; possible benefits of acceptance; disassociation from ethnic group.
Acculturation: maintaining one’s culture while adopting parts of the dominant culture; can involve perceived notions of “selling out”; language, beliefs, and behaviors adapt; stress when norms collide.
Illustration of differences often summarized in simple diagrams or comics, showing competing understandings of the two processes.
Processes of Cultural Change (Reiterated)
Assimilation
Accommodation
Acculturation
Bicultural socialization
The Relationship Between the Physical Environment and Human Behavior: Theories (Key Ideas)
Stimulation theories: the physical environment is a source of sensory information essential for well-being; patterns of stimulation influence thinking, emotions, social interaction, and health.
Control theories: people desire control over their physical environments; four central concepts: privacy, personal space, territoriality, and crowding.
Behavior settings theories: consistent, uniform patterns of behavior occur in particular settings; social situations influence behavior; distinguishes programs, staffing, and behavior patterns.
Ecocritical theories: all elements of nature and the physical world are interconnected; humans have no greater value than other nature; nondominant groups bear environmental hazards; ethical obligations to nonhuman elements.
The Built Environment and Technology
Built environment: portion of the physical environment attributable to human effort; designs that encourage (sociopetal) or discourage (sociofugal) social interaction.
Technology: tools, machines, and devices developed by humans to enhance life; types include construction, industrial, information, communication, weapon, and medical technologies.
Healing Environments and Place Attachment
Healing environments: hospital design increasingly focused on care of the patient; evidence-based design uses physiological and health outcomes to evaluate design features; noise as an impediment to healing.
Place attachment: bonds between people and places; place identity: places become part of self-identity.
Homelessness
January 2012: approx. 6.34\times 10^{5} people experience homelessness on a given night in the U.S. (633,782 in the source material).
About 38% are in families; 62% are individuals; around 16% are chronically homeless; LGBTQ youth may become homeless due to family rejection; about 13% are veterans (often due to war-related disabilities).
2018 Point-In-Time (PIT) count provides state-level breakdowns and city-level CoC (Continuum of Care) data, illustrating shifts in homelessness patterns.
Accessible Environments for Persons with Disabilities
Social model of disability (quiz focus): disability results from the interaction between the individual and the environment, not solely from the impairment itself.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.
Practical Room for Reference: Example Figure
Fig. 20: An example of an accessible toilet room with dimensions and features (e.g., clear floor space, turning space, baby changing station, grab bars) illustrating accessibility standards.
Connections to Practice and Real-World Relevance
How culture shapes client worldviews, values, and behaviors in social work practice.
Understanding power dynamics and social identities (race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, disability) informs equitable assessment and intervention.
Recognizing the environment’s role in well-being (habitat, built environment, healthcare settings) supports person-in-environment assessments and ecological justice.
Ethical implications: addressing bias, promoting cultural humility, and advocating for social and environmental justice.
Relevance to policy and community planning: redlining history, environmental justice, housing, homelessness, and disability access.
Formulas and Notation Used in the Notes
Population figures are presented in scientific notation for precision and clarity:
World population: > 7\times 10^{9}
U.S. population: > 3.13\times 10^{8}
White (non-Hispanic): 1.99\times 10^{8}
Hispanics/Latinos: 4.6\times 10^{7}
African Americans/Blacks: 3.7\times 10^{7}
Asians: 1.3\times 10^{7}
American Indians and Alaska Natives: 3\times 10^{6}
Foreign-born: 4.0\times 10^{7}
These numerical references help quantify demographic and environmental concepts discussed in the chapters.