Chapter 2 Cultural Diversity – Flashcards
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Who are the San People? (Describe them briefly)
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A South African Ethnic group, who use verbal clicks to communicate. They live in small ethnic groups and use cooperation to survive the harsh environments of the Khalahari desert.
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What things do sociologists consider when looking at Culture?
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Language, art, ceremonies and rituals, religion, rules of behavior, social organization, ways of producing food, and work roles. (Material and nonmaterial products that people create)
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What does culture do?
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It distinguishes one human group from another.
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What does culture consist of?
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All the shared products of human groups. (Both physical objects and the beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by a group.
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Define Material Culture
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The physical objects that people create: automobiles, books, buildings, clothing, computers, and cooking utensils.
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Define Non-material Culture
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Abstract human creations: beliefs, family patterns, ideas, language, political and economic systems, rules, skills, and work practices.
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Define Society
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A group of interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and feeling of unity.
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What does a society consist of?
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People
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Culture is both...
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... learned and shared.
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What are the basic components of all cultures?
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Technology, symbols, language, values, and norms.
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What is technology?
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When objects and rules are combined.
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What are symbols?
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Anything that represents something else.
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What is Language?
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Language is the organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system.
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As long as people recognize that ___ carries a particular meaning, it can be recognized as a symbol.
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Any word, gesture, image, sound, physical object, event, or element of the natural world.
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What are Values?
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Shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable.
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What can knowing the types of values a group holds help us determine?
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It can help us determine the character of its people and the kinds of material and nonmaterial culture they create.
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Who were the Yanomamo of South America?
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Farmers who live in small villages (along borders of Brazil and Venezuela). Warfare and feats of male strength play an important role in their way of life.
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What effect does warfare have on the Yanomamo people?
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Populations are very low in villages that could support greater numbers because conflict splits them up. 30% of all death among the males result from wounds received in battle.
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What are Norms?
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Norms are shared rules to conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations. (Expectations of behavior)
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How can norms be applied in societies?
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Either *apply to everyone* or applied *selectively*
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What are two variations of norms?
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Folkways and Mores
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What are folkways?
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Describe socially acceptable behavior but do not have great moral significance attached to them. (Outline the common customs of everyday life)
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What are Mores?
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Behaviors that have great moral significance attached to them. (Violation of such rules that endanger society's well-being and stability.
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What are some examples of folkways?
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Do not put food in your mouth with a knife; When lowering the American flag, do not allow it to touch the ground; Shake hands when you are introduced to someone; Do not jostle and push people when waiting in line; Get to class on time; Do your homework.
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What are some examples of mores?
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Dishonesty, fraud, and murder.
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What are laws?
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Written rules of conduct enacted and enforced by the government. Punishments for violating mores in order to protect the social well-being.
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How is technology a big part of this culture?
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Communication: Phones, social webs, GPS, vehicles, computers, tablets.
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List the levels of Culture.
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1. Culture Pattern 2. Culture complex 3. Culture Trait
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Define culture trait
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An individual tool, act, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need.
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Examples of culture trait.
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Using knives, forks, and spoons when eating. The specific greeting used when meeting people.
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Define Cultural Complexes
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A culture complex is a cluster of interrelated traits.
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What is an example of a culture complex?
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The game of football which involves a variety of traits. Material traits: the football, the measuring chain, cleated shoes, helmets, pads, first-aid kits, and sideline benches. Kicking, passing, catching, running with the ball, blocking and tackling are specific acts of football.
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Define cultural patterns.
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The combination of a number of culture complexes into an interrelated whole.
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What are some examples of cultural patterns?
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The seperate complexes of baseball, basketball, football, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track combine to form the *American athletic pattern*.
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Who do the Nacirema represent?
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The American people.
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Define Cultural Universals
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Certain features that all societies develop to ensure their fulfillment. (Common features)
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Who was George Murdock?
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An *anthropologist* (studies humankind) in the 1940's who examined hundreds of different cultures in an attempt to determine what general traits are common to all cultures.
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What are some of cultural universals discovered by Murdock?
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Body adornment, cooking, dancing, family, feasting, forms of greeting, funeral ceremonies, gift giving, housing, language, medicine, music, myths and folklore, religion, sports, and toolmaking.
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What did Murdock say the purpose of family was?
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Family ensures that new members will be added to society and cared for until old enough to fend for themselves.
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Who was Margaret Mead?
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An anthropologist in the 1930's who conducted a now-classic study of cultural variation.
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What was Mead's main goal in her study?
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Determine whether differences in basic temperament result from inherited characteristics of from cultural influences.
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What two groups did Mead study?
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Arapesh and Mundugumor (Both groups lived in Papua New Guinea)
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Describe the Arapesh
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Contented, gentle, nonagressive, receptive, trusting, and warm people. Their society is based on complete cooperation. Women bring in daily firewood and water, prepare daily meals and carry goods from place to place. Men do the more physically challenging jobs such as repairing the houses, caring for land and crops and hunting. Children get much love.
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Describe the Mundugumor
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Aggresive, competitive, jelous, and violent. Scatter residences throughout the bush. Great hostility among father/son, sister/sister, mother/daughter. The only ties between same sex members are through members of the opposite sex. A social oganization called the *rope*.
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Describe the "Rope" of the Mundugumor.
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One rope consists of the father, his daughters, his daughters' songs, his daughters' sons' daughters, and so on. Another rope starts with the mother.
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What two basic principles does the linguistic- relativity hypothesis consist of?
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1st- States that language shapes the way people think. 2nd- Asserts that people who speak different languages perceive the world in different ways.
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What is ethnocentrism?
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The tendency to view one's own culture and group as superior.
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How can ethnocentrism be good/ bad?
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Good- helps to build group unity Bad-- Too much belief in this can cause a culture to stagnate.
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Define Cultural Relativism.
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The belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards rather than by applying the standards of another culture. (Helps sociologists understand practices of different cultures that seem strange or different.
