Concepts, Aspects, and Changes

of Culture and Society

Elements of Culture
 Elements of Culture: Symbols
•Symbols refers to anything that is used
to stand for something else.
•It is anything that gives meaning to the
culture.
 Elements of Culture: Language
•It is known as the storehouse of culture.
•It is a system of words and symbols
used to communicate with other people.
 Elements of Culture: Technology
•It refers to the application of knowledge
and equipment to ease the task of living
and maintaining the environment;
•it includes artifacts, methods, and
devices created and used by people.
 Elements of Culture: Values
• s are culturally defined standards for what is
good or desirable.
• Values determine how individuals will probably
respond in any given circumstance.
• Members of the culture use the shared system of
values to decide what is good and what is bad.
 Elements of Culture: Values
• Filipinos are known for the following values:
• (a) compassionate;
• (b) spirit of kinship and camaraderie;
• (c) hardwork and industry;
• (d) ability to survive;
• (e) faithand religiosity;
• (f) flexibility, adaptability and creativity;
• (g) joy andhumor;
• (h) family orientation;
• (i) hospitality; and
• (j) pakikipagkapwa-tao
 Elements of Culture: Beliefs
•refers to the faith of an individual.
•They are conceptions or ideas of people have
about what is true in the environment around
them like what is life, how to value it and how
one’ sbelief on the value of life relate with his
or her interaction with others and the world.
 Elements of Culture: Norms
•Norms are specific rules/standards to
guide appropriate behavior.
•These are societal expectations that
mandate specific behaviors in specific
situations
 Types of Norms
•Proscriptive norm – defines and tells
us things not to do.
•Prescriptive norm – defines and tells
use things to do.
 Forms of Norms
•Folkways are also known as customs
(customary/repetitive ways of doing
things); they are forms of norms for
everyday behavior that people follow
for the sake of tradition or convenience.
 Forms of Norms
•Mores are strict norms that control
moral and ethical behavior; they are
based on definitions of right and wrong
•They are norms also but with moral
undertones
 Forms of Norms
•Laws are controlled ethics and they are
morally agreed, writtendown and
enforced by an official law enforcement
agency
 Two Components of Culture
•Sociologists describe two interrelated
aspects of human culture: the physical
objects of the culture (material culture)
and the ideas associated with these
objects(non-material culture).
 Material Culture
• Material culture consists of tangible things
(Banaag, 2012).
• It refers to the physical objects, resources, and
spaces that people use to define their culture.
• Everything that is created, produced, changed and
utilized by men is included in the material culture.
 Non-material Culture
•It consists of intangible things (Banaag, 2012).
•Non‐material culture refers to the nonphysical
ideas that people have about their culture,
including beliefs, values, rules, norms, morals,
language, organizations, and institutions
 Modes of Acquiring Culture
• Imitation - Children and adults alike have the tendency to imitate the
values, attitudes, language and all other things in their social
environment.
• Indoctrination or Suggestion - This may take the form of formal
training or informal teaching. Formally, the person learns from school.
Informally, he may acquire those behaviors from listening or watching,
reading, attending training activities or through interaction.
• Conditioning - The values, beliefs, and attitudes of other people are
acquired through conditioning. This conditioning can be reinforced
through reward and punishment.
 Adaptation of Culture
• Parallelism means that the same culture may take
place in two or more different places.
• Diffusion refers to those behavioral patterns that pass
back and forth from one culture to another. This is the
transfer or spread of culture traits from one another
brought about by change agents such as people or
media
 Adaptation of Culture
• Convergence takes place when two or more cultures
are fused or merged into one culture making it
different from the original culture.
• Fission takes place when people break away from
their original culture and start developing a different
culture of their own.
 Adaptation of Culture
• Acculturation refers to the process wherein individuals
incorporate the behavioral patterns of other cultures into their
own either voluntarily or by force. Voluntary acculturation
occurs through imitation, borrowing, or personal contact with
other people.
• Assimilation occurs when the culture of a larger society is
adopted by a smaller society, that smaller society assumes
some of the culture of the larger society or cost society.
 Adaptation of Culture
•Accommodation occurs when the larger
society and smaller society are able to
respect and tolerate each other’s culture even
if there is already a prolonged contact of
each other’s culture.
 Causes of Cultural Change
• Discovery is the process of finding a new place or an object,
artefact or anything that previously existed.
• Invention implies a creative mental process of devising,
creating and producing something new, novel or original;
and also the utilization and combination of previously
known elements to produce that an original or novel
product. It could be either social or material or it could also
be invention of new methods or techniques.
 Causes of Cultural Change
• Diffusion is the spread of cultural traits or social
practices from a society or group to another
belonging to the same society or to another
through direct contact with each other and
exposure to new forms. It involves the following
social processes:
 Causes of Cultural Change
• Acculturation – cultural borrowing and cultural
imitation
• Example: The Filipinos are said to be the best English-
speaking people of Asia.
• Assimilation – the blending or fusion of two distinct
cultures through long periods of interaction
• Example: Americanization of Filipino immigrants to the
US.
 Causes of Cultural Change
• Amalgamation – the biological or hereditary fusion of
members of different societies
• Example: Marriage between a Filipino and an American
• Enculturation – the deliberate infusion of a new culture to
another
• Example: The teaching of American history and culture to the
Filipinos during the early American Regime
 Causes of Cultural Change
• Colonization refers to the political, social, and political
policy of establishing a colony which would be subject
to the rule or governance of the colonizing state.
• Rebellion and revolutionary movements aim to change
the whole social order and replace the leadership. The
challenge the existing folkways and mores, and propose
a new scheme of norms, values and organization
 Perceptions on cultural variability
• Ethnocentrism. It is a perception that arises from
the fact that cultures differ and each culture defines
reality differently. This happens when judging
another culture solely by the values and standards
of one’s own culture.
• This is the feeling or belief that one’s culture is better
than the rest.
 Perceptions on cultural variability
• Xenocentrism. It is the opposite of ethnocentrism,
the belief that one’s culture is inferior compared to
others. People are highly influenced by the culture
or many culture outside the realm of their society.
• Cultural relativism. It is an attempt to judge behavior
according to its cultural context.
 Perceptions on cultural variability
• Cultural relativism. This concept emphasizes the perspective that no
culture is superior to any other culture because:
• (a) different societies have different moral code;
• (b) the moral code of a society determines what is right or wrong within the
society;
• (c) there are no moral truths that hold for all people at all times;
• (d) the moral code of our own society has no special status, it is but one
among many; and
• (e) it is arrogant for us to judge other cultures, so we have to be tolerant to
them
 Important Terms Related to Culture
• Cultural diversity refers the differentiation of
culture all over the world which means there is
no right or wrong culture but there is appropriate
culture for the need of a specific group of people.
• Sub-culture refers to a smaller group within a
larger culture.
 Important Terms Related to Culture
• Counterculture refers cultural patterns that strongly oppose
those widely accepted within a society (example in the
1960”s counter culture among teenagers reflect long hair,
blue jeans, peace sign, rock and roll music and drug abuse).
• Culture lag is experienced when some parts of the society
do not change as fast as with other parts and they are left
behind
 Important Terms Related to Culture
• Culture shock is the inability to read meaning in
one’s surroundings, feeling of lost and isolation,
unsure to act as a consequence of being outside
the symbolic web of culture that binds others.
• Ideal culture refers to the social patterns
mandated by cultural values and norms.
 Important Terms Related to Culture
• Real culture refers to the actual patterns that only
approximate cultural expectations.
• High culture refers to the cultural patterns that
distinguish a society’s elite
• Popular culture refers to the cultural patterns that
are wide spread among a society’s population.
 Important Terms Related to Culture

•Culture change is the manner by

which culture evolves.
Characteristics of
Society
 Characteristics of Society
• It is a social system. A social system consists of
individuals interacting with each other.
• A system consists of sub-parts whereby a change
in one part affects the other parts.
• Thus, a change in one group of individuals will
affect the stability of the other parts of the system.
 Characteristics of Society
•It is relatively large. The people must be
socially integrated to be considered relatively
large than if the people are individually scattered.
•Thus, the people in a family, clan, tribe,
neighborhood, community a resocially integrated
to be relatively large in scope.
 Characteristics of Society
• It socializes its members and from those from
without. Since most of society’s members are born to it,
they are taught the basic norms and expectations.
• Those who come from other societies, before being
accepted as functioning members, are socialized and
taught the basic norms and expectations of the society.
 Characteristics of Society
• It endures, produces and sustains its members for
generations. For society to survive, it must have the ability
to produce, endure and sustain its new members for at least
several generations.
• For instance, if a society cannot assist its members during
their extreme conditions of hunger and poverty, that society
will not survive long.
 Characteristics of Society
• It holds its members through a common
culture.
• The individuals in a society are held together
because that society has symbols, norms, values,
patterns of interaction, vision and mission that
are commonly shared by the members of such
society.
 Characteristics of Society
• It has clearly-defined geographical territory.
• The members in a society must live in a certain
specific habitat or place and have a common
belongingness and sense of purpose
 Major Functions of Society
• It provides a system of socialization.
• It provides the basic needs of its members.
• It regulates and controls people’s behavior.
• It provides the means of social participation.
• It provides mutual support to the members.
Cultural Relativism and
Ethnocentrism
 Ethnocentrism
• Ethnocentrism is a belief that one’s own culture
is better than others.
• They tend to compare, evaluate, and even judge
other people’s ways based on the values and
standards set in one’s own culture.
 Ethnocentrism
• Due to ethnocentric beliefs, many people are
blinded from seeing things in another perspective.
• Ethnocentric people tend to dislike or make false
judgment on other cultures. They tend becoming
biased and judge another culture as bad and
wrong.
 Ethnocentrism
• A. The American society sees themselves as a world leader.
As a result, they interfere in the political affairs of other
countries and try to control them, leading to misunderstanding
and miscommunication amongst nations which sometimes
result to war.
• b. During the time of Adolf Hitler, Germans believed that they
are a superior race. This led to the death of 6 million Jews
whom they considered as an inferior race.
 Ethnocentrism
• c. European countries go beyond their ethnocentric biases
and saw non-European cultures as uncivilized and
underdeveloped countries of savages and barbarians. They
used this perspective to justify colonialism and imperialism.
• d. Cases of hate crimes and terrorism violence can usually
be traced back to religious conflicts and misunderstandings.
 Cultural Relativism
• Cultural relativism is a belief that cultures are equally
complex.
• There is no such thing as superior or inferior culture.
• It is a way of viewing the beliefs, values, and practices of a
culture from its own viewpoint.
• Another way to say this is that others should understand an
individual’s beliefs and activities in terms of that person’s own
culture
 Cultural Relativism
• Cultural relativism promotes greater appreciation of the
cultures that an individual might encounter along the way.
• Cultural relativism is a good way to rehearse the norms
and values of a society –-- a requirement that one must
subscribe to, regardless of his/her cultural origin.
• It means that the function and meaning of a trait are
relative to its cultural setting.
Cultural Relativism
Significance of Cultural, Social,
Political and Economic Symbols
and Practices
 Human Cultural Evolution
• It is a saying that “human has no contentment”. As
the environment changes, we continuously grow and
find ways to make maximize our effort as we live.
• It is very evident in the different stages of human
cultural evolution: Paleolithic Period, Neolithic
Period, and Age of Metal.
 Paleolithic Period
• The term “Paleolithic” was coined by archaeologist
John Lubbock in 1865.
• It is derived the from Greek word, palaios, which
means "old"; and, lithos, "stone",
• In short, the Paleolithic Period, which happened 2.5
million years ago, is also known as "Old Stone Age".
 Paleolithic Period
• In the Paleolithic period, the Earth was extremely cold and ocean levels
were much lower than they are now.
• Due to the cold climate, much of the Stone Age is also called the Ice Age.
• During these years, people were nomads and able to use simple tools and
weapons made of unpolished stone.
• The caves served as their shelter.
• Similarly, this was the time when people discovered to use the fire, through
the use of stone, for their protection against cold temperature and to cook
their own food.
 Neolithic Period
• the term “Neolithic” also comes from the same
archaeologist and from the Greek word “neo” which
means new and “lithos” meaning stone or in short, the
“New Stone Age” which was happened for about
10,000 B.C.
• In this period, the Cro Magnon disappeared and the new
people who are considered the modern man appeared.
 Neolithic Period
• The Neolithic Revolution is also called as the First Agricultural
Revolution.
• During this period, there was a wide-scale transition of many human
cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to of agriculture and
settlement kind of society which eventually led to population increase.
• People depend on domesticated plants and animals.
• They learned to create such crafts as pottery and weaving.
• They likewise developed boat as means of transportation and for
fishing as well.
 Neolithic Period
• From being nomads during the early stage,
human began to develop a sedentary type of
society of which they built-up villages and
towns.
• Furthermore, they were never contented of their
accomplishments. They kept on discovering
things for their own convenience
 Age of Metals
• This period was known as Age of Metals (4000
B.C – 1500 B.C).
• The used of metal such as bronze, copper, and
iron produced a new historical development
from the cradle civilization of Egypt,
Mesopotamia, Persia including the India, and
China which later spread throughout Asia.
 Age of Metals
• There were three stages distinguished within this Age due
to the different types of metals that were used: The Copper
Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age;
• copper was the first known metal, it is of a low hardness
and it was used to make ornaments;
• bronze is an alloy of copper and tin and it is harder and
stronger than copper. Several eastern Mediterranean
peoples discovered this metallurgy and progressed rapidly
Age of Metals
EARLY CIVILIZATION and
RISE of the STATE
Ancient State and Civilization
 Mesopotamian Civilization
• One of the earliest states and civilizations.
• The word Mesopotamia is a Greek word for “Land between two
rivers” which is often referred to as the cradle of civilization.
• It is the region of the Western Asia located between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers. It is known as the Fertile Crescent where the
first evidence of agriculture was also found.
• Here the first human civilizations were taking the earliest steps
from hunter-gatherer society into settled community.
 Mesopotamian Civilization
• Moreover, it is in Mesopotamia that the history
writing appeared as early as over 5,000 years ago.
• This invention was so important that it marks the
end of the Prehistory, and the beginning of history.
• One of the first writing systems, the Cuneiform, is
one of the most important civilizations in the history
of Mesopotamian culture.
 Mesopotamian Civilization
• Every city in Mesopotamia had its own government,
rulers, warriors, patron god, and functioned like an
independent country.
• Mesopotamian cities were Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagesh.
• There is a temple at the center of each city called a
ziggurat (a massive, tiered, pyramid-shaped
structure).
 Mesopotamian Civilization
• There was also what we called Mesopotamian
warrior-gods (2.400-2.500 B.C.) who govern
and protect the people under its government.
• Military commanders eventually became
monarch creating a new structure of government
called a Dynasty. It is a series of rulers
descending from a single-family line.
 Egyptian Civilization
• It emerged more than 5,000 years ago along the River
Nile in the north-east of Africa.
• The Ancient Egyptians lived near the River Nile because
of its fertile land suitable for growing crops and
domestication of animals.
• Each year, water from the Nile rose and flooded the area.
When the water went back, it left mud that made the fields
fertile.
 Egyptian Civilization
• Egyptians called their king a pharaoh.
• The pharaoh was all- powerful: He passed laws,
He ruled the country, He owned most of the land,
and He controlled trade and led the armies.
Egyptians believed that the pharaohs were gods.
 The State of the People: Democratic State
• Democratization is the transition to a more democratic
political regime, including substantive political changes
moving in a democratic direction.
• It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a
full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political
system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-
authoritarian political system to a democratic political
system.
 The State of the People: Democratic State
• Moreover, a democracy is a form of government where the
citizens of the nation have the power to vote.
• There are several different types of democracies;
• (1) a representative democracy is a system where citizens choose
government representatives among their citizens,
• (2) direct democracy is when the citizens form a governing body
and vote directly on issues,
• (3) constitutional democracy limits the powers of government
through the nation’s constitution.
Socialization
 Socialization
• Socialization simply means the process of
learning one’s society and its culture.
• It is moreover the same as interacting, mingling
and being with other people or groups within/
outside of your society.
 Socialization
• Through socialization, one learns the culture’s
language, their roles in life, and what is expected
from them.
• Without socialization, a person will develop
different physical and mental disabilities.
 Agents of Socialization:
FAMILY
• Most of the habits, manners, beliefs and the way we think
are develop in the family.
• A huge part of your personality is molded by your family
because this is where you spent your childhood.
• Your family influences you on the way you behave and act
as a person.
• This is when socialization process is crucial and intense.
 Agents of Socialization: SCHOOL
• It is in the school that your behavior and attitude
are shape to become a better member of society.
 Agents of Socialization: PEER
GROUP
• Your peers usually have similar ages, social
status and share interests.
• Your peer group influences you on the way you
can accept yourself.
• It is with your peer group that you find yourself
belonged
 Agents of Socialization: SOCIAL
MEDIA
• It plays a crucial role in shaping your personality
as well.
• Majority of us, young and old, are connected
through social media. Much of our waking time
is spent on using social media.
 Socialization
• What you are now is a product of socialization.
You have been socializing from the time you
were born until now.
• Socialization is a continuing process until we die.
• Socialization is really a necessity for it develops
you as person.
 Enculturation
• Enculturation is the process by which people learn the
requirements of their surrounding culture and acquire
values and behaviors appropriate or necessary in that
culture.
• Socializing with people plays a great part in achieving it.
He/she deals with. An individual also learns from
observing the surrounding he/she is in
 Enculturation
• As a child lives with his family and the community, he/she
adapts socially accepted values (e.g. attending to religious
obligations, respecting the elders, etc.)
• At a very young age, a child is instilled with values by
his/her parents and family. He / She sees the importance of
being together as respected when they eat.
• Also, he/she learns the foundations of learning; be it reading
the alphabet and counting of numbers.
 Enculturation
• In school, he/she learns to be socially educated person
as he/she observes and adapts the behavior of other
people (e.g. singing the National Anthem, paying
respect to the flag, showing respect to teachers and
valuing friendship among friends and classmates).
• A person becomes more civilized as he learns more of
culturally accepted behavior and knowledge in school
 Enculturation
• In a community, a person may be inspired to
practice social duties and obligations as observed
and learned from those who do great
contributions for the welfare of most people.
• In these practices, one may also become a
steward of goodwill.
 Enculturation
• A teenager learns to clothe himself/herself like his/her
friends or in great chances, adapts how they behave and
act.
• He / She appreciate the value of friendship, learn to find
joy in sharing commonalities and accepts differences in
choices and decisions.
• His / Her confidence in dealing with people can be rooted
from a well-maintained relationship with friends.
 Enculturation
• The government upon its imposition of law refines a
person’s way of living.
• Through which, he/she learns his civil rights and
exercises them righteously.
• Likewise, he/she learns to respect government
policies and abides to them, knowing that every
action has limitation.
 Enculturation
• In his/her dealing with religious affiliations, a
person’s belief in Omnipotent Being is strengthened.
• This cultivates the idea that everyone like a brother
and a sister.
• Thus, respect towards one another is valued. He or
she learns to respect differences in faith.
 Enculturation
• Parents and other authorities are called the initiators
of enculturation.
• If it is not because of enculturation, a person will not
become the way he/she in the society.
• One will not be able to discern what is right from
wrong or even make actions to handle problems
encountered.
 Enculturation
• Because of enculturation, an individual knows the
boundaries of his/her actions, words and ideals.
• As a learned individual, one becomes accepted by the
group he/she belongs with.
• Enculturation teaches a person of his/her roles in the
society. True enough, he/she becomes functional
member of the society.
 Social
Organizations
Concept of Social Groups
 Group
• A group is composed of two or more persons
interacting with each other and guided by a set of
norms.
• It is also defined as specified number of
individuals where each recognizes members as
distinct from non-members.
Basic Classifications of
Social Groups
 Primary Groups
• Primary groups are marked by concern for one another, shared
activities and culture, and long periods of time spent together.
• They are influential in developing an individual’s personal identity.
• The goal of primary groups is actually the relationships themselves
rather than achieving some other purpose.
• The examples of a primary group but not limited to be your family
and childhood and close friends.
• The concept of the primary group was introduced by Charles Cooley
in his book, Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind.
 Secondary Groups
• Secondary relationships involve weak emotional ties and little
personal knowledge of one another.
• In contrast to primary groups, secondary groups don’t have the
goal of maintaining and developing the relationships themselves.
• These groups are based on usual or habitual interests or affairs.
• It includes groups in which one exchanges explicit commodities,
such as labor for wages, services for payments, and such.
 In-Group
• Belonging to the same group as others who share
the same common bond and interests who are
more likely to understand each other refers to an
in- group.
 Out-Group
• Those who do not belong to the in-group are part
of the out-group, which exist in the perceptions
of the in-group members and takes on social
reality as a result of behavior by in-group
members who use the out-group as a negative
point of reference.
 Reference Groups
• A reference group is a collection of people that we use as
a standard of comparison for ourselves regardless of
whether we are part of that group.
• We rely on reference groups to understand social norms,
which then shape our values, ideas, behavior, and
appearance.
• This means that we also use them to evaluate the relative
worth, desirability, or appropriateness of these things.
 Network
• A network is a collection of people tied together
by a specific pattern of connections.
• They can be characterized by the number of
people involved, as in the dyad (by twos) and
triad (by threes), but also in terms of their
structures (who is connected to whom) and
functions (what flows across ties).