Republic of the Philippines

Surigao del Sur State University

Essay

1. What is society and culture with family planning?

Society and culture with family planning is a course that will introduce students to the various
concepts, theories, and perspectives that's vital in the understanding of society and culture. This
contains an in-depth discussion of basic social institutions forming the social structure that will
be emphasized in order to increase awareness of students of the current issues and problems
confronting the present social structure. In doing so, the students are also expected to
understand their individual and collective functions in confronting such issues and problems.
Furthermore, it has also a special discussion that will be devoted to family planning and
reproductive health concepts and issues that are a significant agenda of the society's project on
social order.

The study of society and culture with family planning is in fact important because various
students will be able to learn as well as discuss the varied concepts that's related to the study of
society and culture, the various roles of social institutions as bases of order in a specific society,
comprehend the factors which lead to social change, and acquire knowledge about the varied
concepts on reproductive health and family planning.

2. What is the relationship between culture and society?

The word culture from the Latin root “colere” means "to inhabit, cultivate, or to honor" that
generally refers to the patterns of human activity as well as the symbolic structures that give
such activity significance. Culture is a term that refers to a diverse set of mostly intangible
aspects of social life. It mainly consists of a system of values, beliefs, language, communication,
practices, and it also includes the material objects that are common to a certain group or society
that people share in common and that can be used to define them as collective. A culture
provides guidelines for living and learning our culture puts our social world in an understandable
framework, providing a tool kit that we can utilize to help us construct the meaning of our world.
In Kluckhohn's view "Culture consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting,
acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human
groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of
traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values".

On the other hand, society that's derived from the Latin word "socious" that means "association
or companionship" is group of individuals living in a certain specific geographic area who
interact more with each other than they do with outsiders and cooperate for the attainment of
common goals, and in fact each society includes key institutions such as: education, religion,
family, economics, politics, and health that meets the basic human needs. In C.H. Cooley's view
a "Society is a complex form or processes each of which is living and growing by interaction with
others, the whole being so unified that what takes place in one part affects all the rest". Both
culture and society are not the same thing but at the same time both are inevitably connected
because culture is the one that represents the beliefs and practices of a group, while society is
the one that represents the people who share those beliefs and practices.

Culture is the sum total of the learned as well as shared and socially transmitted behavior that
includes customs, values, ideas, and other characteristics common to the members of a
particular group or society. On the other hand, a fairly large number of people living in the same
territory is what constitute a society; and the members of society shares common language
which facilitates a day-to-day exchanges with others and participate in common culture— and
through culture the people and group define themselves, conform to society's shared values
and contribute to the society and therefore culture includes numerous societal aspects. Culture
is the way of life of the people while society is an organized, interacting aggregate of individuals
who follow a given way of life. In simple terms a society is composed of people and the way
they behave is their culture.
A member of a society shares a common culture over time, and the way people think and
behave in any society is largely prescribed by its culture which happens to be learned,
transmitted, as well as reshaped from generation to generation. All the activities in the society
whether educating people, selecting leaders for the group, finding a mate, preparing and eating
food, and negotiating with other societies are guided by the cultural rules and expectations. In
each society, culture provides the social rules for how individuals carry out necessary tasks, just
as software provides the rules for computer application. While culture is the one that provides
the "software" for the way people live and society is the one that represents the "hardware"—
the structure that gives organization and stability to group life. Society organized groups of
people and cultures—their way of life— are interdependent. Indeed both are not the same thing,
but they cannot exist without each other, just as the computer's hardware and software are each
useless without the other.

3. Why study of society and culture is important?

The term society refers to groups of people in a certain geographical area that interact with each
other and live according to a shared culture. The ultimate goal of society is to promote or create
a well-developed and harmonious life for individuals, and it creates conditions as well as
opportunities for all round development of individual personality. Society ensures harmony and
cooperation among individuals in spite of the occasional conflicts and tensions. The study of
society is indeed important because it provides impact to one's life or even to a certain society.
The study of society allows one to learn how to think critically about the various social problems
and issues that confront a certain society and provides critical insights as well as perspective to
the solution of the lingering social problems and issues, look more objectively at the society and
other societies, direct one's attention to how the parts of society fit together and change; as well
as makes one aware of the consequences of that social change, and the study of society also
provides the conceptual tools and methods for understanding the social milieu as it is expressed
in various areas such as: attitudes, values, behavior, and numerous more. In addition, by
studying society it helps one understand oneself better since studying society examines how the
social world happens to influence the way one feels, acts, and thinks. It also helps with decision
making; both in one's own and that of larger organizations because once a certain individual
studies society one can gather systematic information from which to make a decision, provide
insights into what's going on in a situation, as well as present alternatives. Lastly, it enriches
one's life and even prepares one for possible careers in an increasingly diverse world.

The term culture refers to the learned and shared values, norms, traditions, and numerous more
of a group of people or individuals that together form people's way of life. It is a reflection of a
community or nation and it provides individuals with the blueprint for how to most effectively
function within a society. Culture gives people identity, helps build character, unites people, and
it gives a sense of security; and with this culture influence and becomes part of human lives.
Culture studies are indeed important because one can acquire great benefits and through it we
can also learn other areas of study. When culture is intertwined with the study of anthropology,
culture study will equip individuals with the necessary skills in interacting with various people
around them; and by studying the human body and connecting it norms and traditions a certain
individual will get informed about the racial differences that one must respect in order to work
and live in harmony with other people. Culture can also be connected with psychology as it sees
how different minds work as well as interact in various situations. When culture is paired with
economics or political science; the knowledge about various culture help one figure out the
importance of laws that governs once country and also to the neighboring countries as well, and
it helps one answer certain questions like 'why one needs to follow rules' and 'what impact can
our action make to other people'. Studying culture in general allows one to understand how the
different culture came about, it broadens one's outlook towards cultural diversity, and it also
gives an overview of how peoples' behavior varies from one place to another. In addition, in
studying culture one can learn about human differences in all its biological, historical, cultural
and linguistic complications. The students like me will learn to suspend judgment, seek
evidence, understand change, be able to compare and contrast information, and learn how to
make connections and even think outside the box. The acquired skills in studying society are
also useful for living and working in today's world; which increasingly means interacting with
people from various cultural backgrounds and nations, and it also equips students to become
critical thinkers and effective communicators who are able to be productive members of working
groups; generating relevant information as well as making informed decisions.