Culture and Society (Term Paper Sample)

Culture and Society
Name
InstitutionSummary
Society and culture are generally related in some ways. Culture consists of the objects of a particular society, whereas a society consists of a group of people who share common culture. In today’s world, the terms society and culture have lost some of their usefulness simply because of the increasing number of people globally who interact and share resources. Still, many people prefer to use culture and society in a more traditional manner; for example, some people still prefer to be part of racial culture within the larger U.S society. Language in culture and society influences perception, values that guide the society and norms which form the society. Languages create visual images and distinguish people from outsiders thus maintaining boundaries and societal solidarity. It serves as a unique tool during manipulations of symbols for expression of abstracts, rules and concepts. Therefore, it creates and transmits culture from generation to generation.Culture and society
Introduction
Culture can be defined as a system in which actions of individuals are understood by a particular group of people. It consists of beliefs, objects, behaviors and other characteristics which are mostly common to members of a particular society or group. People and groups define themselves, share values in the society and contribute what they have to the society through culture. There are several aspects of culture in the society; customs, norms, language, values, rules, products, tools, organization and institutions. Being cultured only means being well educated, stylish, knowledgeable of the arts, and well mannered. High culture, which is generally pursued by the upper class, refers to theatre, classical music, fine arts and many other sophisticated pursuits (Nogues-Pedregal, 2012). Because of cultural capital, members of the upper class pursue high art, which means they have professional credentials, knowledge, education, and verbal and social skills which are important to attain the property power and prestige. Low culture is generally pursued by the working middle classes. Popular culture includes sports, television sitcoms, soaps, movies and rock music.
Sociologists` view on culture is different from high culture, low culture, and popular culture. They refer to societies as people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture. The bond that exists in culture may be racial or ethical, based on gender or due to shared values, beliefs, and activities. The geographic meaning of society refers to people who share common culture in a particular region. For example, those people living in arctic climates tend to develop different cultures from those people living in desert culture (Besamusca & Verheul, 2010). In time, a large variety of different cultures arose all over the world.
Languages help people from different backgrounds to learn their cultural heritage and sense of identity in their culture. It acts as power and social booster with continuation of different inequalities between people. Its contribution leads to a great deal in the advancement of both material and non-material cultures. For example, the movie business is directed at empowering the culture of the English economically in learning their identity and heritage.Cultural Values
A cultural value is the idea about what is good, right, fair and just. Sociologists disagree with this idea. According to Robert Merton, an American sociologist, the most important cultural values in American society are power, wealth, success, and prestige, but not everyone in the society has an opportunity to attain these values. Many sociologists have proposed a general factor of American values, including material success, accomplishment, problem solving, dependence on science and technology, patriotism, democracy, charity, individualism, freedom, equality and justice, accountability and responsibility. To some extent, a culture may harbor conflicting values (Erickson, 2005). For instance, the value of charity may conflict with the value of material success. Also, the value of equality may conflict with the value of individualism. Such contradictions exist because of inconsistency between people’s actions and their professed values. This explains why sociologists need to be carefully when distinguishing between what people say and do. Real and ideal cultures differ in the sense that real culture deals with values and norms which a society actually follows, whereas ideal culture deals with values and norms in which a society tends to believe.
Cultural Norms
Cultural norms are the agreed-upon rules and expectation by which the members of a culture behave in a particular situation. They vary widely across cultural groups. For instance, Americans maintain fairly direct eye contact when talking with others. On the other hand, Asians avert their eyes which act as a sign of respect and politeness. There are four major types of norms which sociologist speaks about. These include taboos, folkways, mores, and laws. Folkways are standards of behavior which are not morally significant but socially approved. For example, belching loudly after dinner at another person’s home breaks an American folkway. Mores are defined as norms of morality (Jourdan & Tuite, 2006). Mores can be broken, for example, attending church in the nude, will offend most people of culture. When a culture forbids something, it is called a taboo. For example, incest is considered as a taboo in U.S culture. Lastly, laws are rules which are implemented by the state and protected by the power of the state. However, for culture to exist and function, members of the culture must adhere to its norms. For members to obey and conform to the rules, they must internalize the social values and norms that state what is healthy for the culture; and then teach or socialize norms and values to their children. If socialization and internalization have failed to produce conformity, then some form of social control is needed. Social control will produce conformity since it may take the form of fines, ostracism, punishments, and even imprisonment.
Cultural Diversity
It is the presence of several cultures and cultural differences within a particular society. The United States comprises many different cultural groups; it leads to cultural diversity. Subculture is one of smaller groups that exist within but tend to differ in some way from the prevailing culture. There are several types of subcultures; these include heavy metal music devotees, motorcycle gang members, body piercing and tattoo, and skinheads among others. Members make use of distinctive language, clothing, and behaviors, despite that they may accept many of the values of the dominant culture. Most of the ethnic groups in America adjust so that to mainstream America, but they still retain many of their cultural customs and in some cases their native ethnic language.
Second cultural diversity is counterculture. It comes as a result of opposition to the values and norms of the dominant culture. Most of the members of countercultures such as protest groups and hippies are generally young adults and teenagers. This is because youth is often a time of identity crisis and experimentation. In many times, but not all, members of the counter cultures tend to adopt the values and norms of the dominant cultures.
The third aspect of culture and diversity is assimilation and multiculturalism. When the mainstream absorbs cultural, sub-cultural, and countercultural groups, it is said that they have undergone assimilation. However, most people today increasingly recognize the value of the coexisting cultural groups which did not lose their identities. Multiculturalism respects cultural variations rather than requiring that the dominant culture assimilate various cultures. It states that certain shared cultural tenets are very important to society as a whole, but some cultural difference are important too. For example, in today’s world, children in schools are being taught that the United States is not only culture that they should embrace, but other viewpoints might have something to offer Americans (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1996).
Lastly, there are ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Ethnocentrism is a situation where people judge other cultures against the standards of one’s own culture. Norms are translated into what is considered normal within a culture so that people`s ways of doing things should be natural. The same people are judging other people`s ways of doing things as unnatural. They tend to forget that what is considered normal in America is not necessarily the same in other parts of the world. A problematic form of ethnocentrism is nationalism. Nationalism includes the perception that each particular nation has a historical or God given claim to superiority. Sociologists try to embrace cultural relativism and strive to avoid ethnocentric judgments. Cultural relativism is the process where culture should be sociologically evaluated according to its standards, and not those of any other cultures. According to sociologists, there are no good or bad cultures. They are in a position to understand other cultures because they do not assume their own as somehow better.
Towards a Global Culture
Some sociologists today predict that the world is moving to a global culture that is full of cultural diversity. Cultural diffusion is the spread of standards across cultures. Cultures influenced each other through trade, travel, and even conquest. The rate of cultural diffusion is increasing dramatically as populations today travel and settle around the globe. Social forces which create a global culture include electronic communications, mass media, the internet, international businesses and banks, the news media and the United Nations among many othe...