Culture

Culture
By
Dr Utpal Sharma
Demonstrator
Deptt. Of Community Medicine, FAAMCH

Introduction
Culture is one of the most important concepts in social sciences.
In sociological usage, culture specifically refers to social structure and
ideas that give meaning to human social structure………
…………while society refers to social structure apart
from underlying values and ideas.
They are inseparable…….it is important to distinguish between the
related concepts of culture and society.
Sometimes the concepts are used synonymously to mean all learned
habits the total ways of life of a social group, or a group’s social heritage.
Although culture and society are closely related concepts that can never
be wholly separated.

Simplified….
Culture comes from the Latin word "colere",meaning
to build on, to cultivate, to foster.
Culture is a set of accepted behaviour patterns, values,
assumptions, and shared common experiences.
Culture defines social structure, decision making practices,
and communication styles.

Culture….. meaning
 Culture refers to the beliefs, values, behavior and material objects
that, together, form a people's way of life.
 Culture determines how we view the world around us
 Culture includes the traditions we inherit and pass on to the next
generation
 Culture: totality of our shared language, knowledge, material
objects, and behavior

Understanding culture…
Culture is a unique possession of man…….
………………every man is born into a society is
the same as saying that “every man is born into a culture.
Every man can be regarded as a representative of this culture.
Culture is the unique quality of man which separates him from the lower animals.
Culture can be said to include all the human phenomena in a society……
…………including all learned behaviour.
Culture is a very board term that includes…..
 our ways of life and modes of behaviour,
 our philosophies and ethics,
 our morals and manners,
 our customs and tradition,
 our religious, political, economic and other types of activities.

Structure of culture
Trait
Smallest unit of culture is “Cultural Trait” e.g Shaking hands etc
Complexes
Traits combine to form “Cultural Complexes” e.g. Dance group consists of
dancers, choreographers, production house, manager, audience etc.
Pattern
Cultural Complexes combines to form Cultural Pattern e.g. industrial township
has a way of life different from agricultural society
Cultural Institutions
An institution is a series of complexes and patterns centering around a
configuration of needs. e.g.: Family: match making complex, wedding pattern,
child rearing pattern, husband-wife relation pattern, etc.

Culture and Society
 Society: the structure of relationships within which culture is
created and shared through regularized patterns of social interaction…….
 Society provides the context within which our relationships with the
external world develop
 How we structure society constrains the kind of culture we construct
 Cultural preferences vary across societies

Functions of culture
Culture defines situation
Culture conditions and determines what we eat, and drink what we
wear, where to laugh, weep sleep to make friends with, what work we
do, what to worship etc.
Culture is the treasury of knowledge
Culture provides knowledge which is important for the physical, social
and intellectual existence of man.
Culture preserves knowledge and helps its transmission from
generation to generation through its element that is language.
Language helps not only the transmission of knowledge but also its
preservation, accumulation and diffusion.

Cont…
Culture provides behavior patterns
Culture assigns goals and provides means for achieving them. It rewards
his noble ones and punishes the immoral ones.
Culture not only controls but also liberates human, energy and activities.
Culture defines attitudes, values and goals
Culture conditions our attitudes towards various issues such as religion,
morality, science, family planning, prostitution, and so on.
Our values concerning private property, fundamental rights, being
respectful and obedient to elders and teachers being patriotic, loyal etc.
are influenced by our culture.

Cont….
Culture models personality
Culture prepares man for group life and provides him the design of living.
It is not possible to develop human qualities viz. personalities in the absence of a
cultural environment.
It is culture that provides opportunities for the development of personality and
sets limits on its growth
Culture decides our career
Culture sets limitations on our choice to select different careers.
Individual is exposed to and molded by the culture of the group into which he is
born.
Every individual is unique in any culture…… but the culture provides not only for
“universals” but also for “alternatives”.
The uniqueness may be based on individual differences in ability, aptitude and
learning.

Characteristics of culture
Culture is shared and acquired with birth……and it is transmitted from one
generation to the next.
Culture is basically a blueprint for living in a particular society.
Culture is learnt
It is not an inborn tendency but learnt socially by man.
Unlearned behavior such as closing the eyes while sleeping, the eye blinking
reflex and so on, are purely physiological and not cultural.
E.g. Shaking hands or saying “namaskar” or “thanks” on the other hand, are
cultural.
Culture is social
Culture does not exist in isolation neither is an individual phenomenon.
It is a product of society and originates and develops through social interactions.
No man can acquire culture without association with other human beings.
It is the culture which helps man to develop human qualities in a human
environment.

Cont…
Culture is shared
Culture in the sociological sense, is something shared.
It is not something that an individual alone can possess e.g. customs, traditions,
beliefs, ideas, values, morals etc. are all shared by people of a group or society.
Culture is something adopted, used, believed, practiced or possessed by more
than one person. It depends upon group life for its existence.
Culture is transmissive
Culture is transmitted not through genes but by means of language through
generations.
Language in its different forms like reading and writing is the main vehicle of
culture.
But language itself is a part a culture. Once language is acquired, transmission of
culture may take place by imitation as well as by instruction.

Cont…
Culture is continuous and cumulative
Culture is a “growing whole” which includes in itself…..
…….Achievements of the past and…..
…….The present and……
…….Makes provision for the future achievements of mankind
Culture is consistent and integrated
Culture has a tendency to be consistent and are interconnected.
Culture is dynamic and adaptive
Culture is subjected to slow but constant changes.
Change and growth are latent in culture……culture is therefore dynamic.
Culture is responsive to the changing conditions of the physical world…….
adaptive nature.

Cont…
Culture is gratifying
Culture provides proper opportunities and prescribes means for the
satisfaction of our needs and desires.
These needs may be biological or social in nature.
Culture determines and guides the varied activities of man
Culture varies from society to society
Culture of every society is unique to itself ……..they are not uniform.
Culture elements such as customs, traditions, morals, ideas, values,
ideologies etc, are not uniform everywhere.
No culture ever remains constant it varies from time to time also.

Material Culture
 Refers to the physical objects and resources people use to define their culture.
 These include homes, neighborhoods, cities, schools, churches, temples, mosques,
offices, factories and plants, products stores etc.
Physical aspects of a culture help to define its members' behaviors and perceptions.
Non Material Culture
Includes creations and abstract ideas that are not embodied in physical objects.
Intangible products created and shared between the members of a culture over time
E.g. Social roles, rules, ethics, and beliefs
Crucial guides for members of a culture to use to know how to behave in their society
and interpret the world.

Components of Culture
Symbols and Language
Symbols are acts e.g. gestures or objects e.g flag that have come to be socially
accepted as standing for some particular thing
Language is the most important form of symbol
Language is the chief vehicle by which people communicate ideas, information,
attitudes and emotions
To the human mind, symbols are cultural representations of reality.
 Gun in the hands of policeman…….Protection
 Gun in the hands of civilian…..crime
Every culture has its own set of symbols associated with different experiences
and perceptions.
Symbols occur in different forms: verbal or nonverbal, written or unwritten.

Cont…
Values
These are ideas about what is “right” and what is “wrong”
They are standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and
beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.
Values differs from society to society as every social order chooses what
to be valued and what not
E.g. our value system gives more importance to religion, concern for
others etc. while in western world success, achievements are given more
importance

Cont….
Norms
These are social rules which dictates correct and appropriate
behavior in the society
Norms tells us what we MUST do and what we MUST NOT do
Norms are enforced with sanctions i.e. Reward or
Punishments that encourage conformity to cultural norms.
Societal sanctions are ranked by severity…..

Cont…
Folkways
Customary ways of behavior
Habits (Although is a personal matter) those are common to group
Related with day to day way of behavior, not related to moral values
They are socially approved but vary society to society
Followed automatically and spontaneously
If violated person is ridiculed, laughed upon boycotted (if violation is
repeated)
E.g. way of greetings, way of dressing for an occasion, standing, sitting
etc

Cont…
Mores
Standards of behavior which influences the moral conduct of
the people conformity to mass
Associated with moral vales and is more vital (security) of society than
folkways
Society considers compliance with mores more important for its welfare
and maintenance of order
The reaction to violation is stronger compared to folkways
Negative mores (not to be done) are called taboos
More closely associated with law e.g. stealing is a taboo as well as crime

Folkways and norms
Folkways Mores
Customary ways of behavior Socially accepted behavior that involves moral values
Should be followed Must be followed
Useful for day to day living Essential for social welfare
Folkways changes more rapidly More deep rooted and change less rapidly
Followed spontaneously Mores are more vigorously enforced
Followed not out of fear Followed or avoided (taboo) out of fear
Sanction on violations are lenient Sanctions on violation are more strong/ strict
Vary from society to society e.g. ways of
greeting differs in Hindus and Muslims
Being related to moral values, mores shows less variation
between societies e.g. stealing is prohibited in all societies
Less likely to be converted into law Mores often forms basis of laws e.g. Dowry act

Role or functions of culture
Culture makes a Human being out of a biological organism
Culture provides us guidelines for day to day living
Culture provides us a configuration of DO’s and DON’Ts
Culture ensures stable social order

Few important terms…..
Culture is not uniform, but varies from regions to region. This is called
cultural variability
Some aspect of culture are universal e.g. family as basic unit of society is
present in all cultures
It is subculture that tries to oppose or reject many aspect of dominant
culture e.g. Hippy culture
Counter culture
Cultural variability
Cultural universality

Cont…
In each culture, we have subcultures e.g. youth culture, working group
culture
Acculturation means cultural contact
When there is contact between people of different cultures a diffusion of
cultures occurs in both ways
Promoters of cultural contact are:
Transport and communication
Trade and commerce
Tourism, media and education
Propagation of religion
Subculture
Acculturation

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