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Culture And

Socialization

Group Project By ;

Nisha Pandey (Guided by)

Amogh (Presentation made by)

Ananya Seth (Helped with presentation)

Ananya Rajkalyan (Prepared the questions)

Twinkle (Helped with the questions)

Sneha (Leader)

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

‘Culture’, like ‘society’, is a term used

frequently and sometimes vaguely.

Culture is confined to the

arts, or alludes to the way of life of

certain classes or even countries.

Culture

Culture

is the common understanding, which

is learnt and developed through social

interaction with others in society.

But cultures are never finished products. They are always changing and evolving. Elements are constantly being added, deleted, expanded, shrunk and rearranged.

This makes cultures dynamic as functioning units.

Culture

We learn the use of tools

and techniques as well as the non-material

signs and symbols through

interaction with family members,

friends and colleagues in different

social settings. Much of this knowledge

is systematically described and

conveyed either orally or through

books.

This learning prepares us for

carrying out our roles and

responsibilities in society.

Diverse Settings, Different Cultures

Having access to modern science and technology does not make modern cultures superior to the tribal cultures of the islands.

Cultures cannot be ranked but can be judged adequate or inadequate in terms of their ability to cope with the strains imposed by nature.

CULTURE

Culture

Defining Culture

The sociologist looks at

culture not as something that

distinguishes individuals, but as a way

of life in which all members of society participate.

Defining Culture

Edward Tylor

Edward

Tylor

Anthropological definition of culture

comes from the British scholar Edward

Tylor: “Culture or civilization taken in

its wide ethnographic sense, is that

complex whole which includes

knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,

custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member

of society”

Bronislaw Malinowski

Bronislaw Malinowski

Bronislaw Malinowski of

Poland (1884-1942) wrote: “Culture

comprises inherited artifacts, goods,

technical process, ideas, habits and

values”

Clifford Geertz

Clifford Geertz

Clifford Geertz suggested that we

look at human actions in the same way

as we look at words in a book, and see

them as conveying a message. “… Man

is an animal suspended in webs of

significance he himself has spun. I take

culture to be those webs…”.The search

is not for a causal explanation, but for

an interpretative one, that is in search

for meaning

Leslie White

Leslie White

Leslie White had placed a comparable emphasis on culture as a means of adding meaning to objective reality, using the example of people regarding water from a particular source as holy.

The multiple definitions of culture

in anthropological studies led Alfred

Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn

(anthropologists from the United

States) to publish a comprehensive

survey entitled Culture: A Critical

Review of Concepts and Definitions in

1952.

Confilct in Opinions

Malinowski happened to be stranded on an island in the Western Pacific during the First World War, and discovered thereby the value of remaining for an extended period with the society one was studying.

We can now see his definition of culture as an attempt to take into account its intangible and abstract dimensions, so as to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the societies he was studying.

Conflict in Opinions

Apart from his mention of art, all the things listed by Tylor are non-material. This is not because Tylor himself never looked at material culture. He was in fact a museum curator, and most of his anthropological writing was based on the examination of artifacts and tools from societies across the world, which he had never visited.

Dimensions of culture

Dimensions of Culture

Non-material Culture:

It refers to the abstract or intangible elements of culture, such as the ways of thinking and patterns of behavior. It includes the normative and cognitive dimensions of culture.

Non-Material

Normative Dimension:

This dimension includes social rules and social expectations, i.e. the norms and values of a society.

Normative

V/S

Norms

Values

  • More general guidelines,
  • E.g.: Respecting elders (norms under this: norm.touching feet)
  • Norms are guidelines to actions which apply to specific situations.
  • A number of specific norms are a reflection of single value.
  • E.g.: Like a dress code for a function is a norm

Norms

Norms

This dimension includes social rules and social expectations, i.e. the norms and values of a society. Norms are socially approved guidelines which direct behaviors of members of a society or a social group. In other words, they are the social expectations of proper behavior.

Norms usually vary across societies and even within the same society across different social groups. A social norm is not necessarily actual behavior. (‘Unwritten rules’) Most of human actions is norm-governed.

Social Values

Values

  • They are the standards that define what is good, desirable, worthwhile in society. They are the underlined principles guided by choices and actions.
  • Any action contrary to cherished values is condemned.

Example: In Indian society there is a value of respect for seniors and from that a number of norms are derived regarding expected behavior towards seniors, such as offering seats to elders, touching their feet, or greeting them, not addressing by first names.

Importance of Norms and Values:

Importance

  • Shared values and norms bring commonality in the outlook between members of society binding them together.
  • It makes social life orderly and predictable. E.g.: without norms, we would never know, whether to shake hands with a new acquaintance or give them an affectionate push.
  • Norms are essential because they regulate the behavior of numbers of society or group. Without norms there would be chaos and disorder.

Cognitive Dimensions

Cognitive

The cognitive dimension of culture refers to ideas which include beliefs, knowledge, myths, superstitions etc. of a society.

  • In literate society, ideas are transcribed in books and documents.
  • But in non-literate societies ideas are in the form of legends and myths which are committed to memory and transmitted orally.
  • In the contemporary world ideas are also reflected in audio-visual media [ads, films]

Material aspect of Culture:

Material

It refers to the tangible, concrete products that members of society possess and make use of; e.g.-machines, buildings, jewellery, modes of transportation, technological gadgets.

Side-note

Both material and non-material dimensions of culture undergo change over time. However, material or technological dimensions change faster than non-material aspects (values and norms are slower to change). This gives rise to “cultural lag” or a situation whereby non¬material dimensions are unable to match the advances of technology (material dimension ).

More About Culture

MORE ABOUT

CULTURE

Culture and Identity

Culture and Identity

Culture and identity are absolutely central to all sociology. Culture is part and parcel of all that we do,all that we are, all that we can, and might become.

For the individual the social roles that she/he plays imparts identity.

Every person in modern society plays multiple roles. For instance within the family s/he may be a parent or a child but for each of the specific roles there are particular responsibilities and powers

Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism

It refers to tendency to devalue others, disrespect of diversity, looking through and evaluating other cultures through our own cultural lens. It is the application of one’s own cultural values in evaluating the behaviour and beliefs of people from other cultures. It implies devaluing others by looking at them through your cultural lens. Ethnocentrism is not open in diversity.

Cosmopolitism:

Cosmopolitism

It is exactly the opposite of ethnocentrism. It accommodates other cultures’ and their beliefs .

Cultural Changes:

  • External: changes in environment, colonialism, revolutions, media.
  • Internal: evolution

Both internal and external changes influence social change that is totally internal.

Cultural Changes

What is Socialization?

  • Socialization is a process by which a person learns to behave in an acceptable manner within the society or group.
  • It refers to the way by which the values and norms of the society or group become a part of the individual’s own way of thinking and feeling.
  • This process is referred to as socialization and through this the individual becomes a part of the given culture.
  • For society to operate smoothly, individuals must be socialized into institutionalized patterns of behavior, values and norms.

SOCIALIZATION

More About Socialization

More About Socialization

Definitions of Sociology

Defining Socialization

According to Gillin and Gillin, “By the term socialisation we mean a process by which an individual develops into a functioning member of the group according to its standards, conforming to its mode, observing its traditions and adjusting himself to the social situations.”

According to Bogardus, “Socialization is the process of working together, of developing group responsibility, of being guided by the welfare means of others.”

Characteristics of Socialization:

Characteristics

  • Process of learning: Socialization is a matter of learning and not of biological inheritance. In the socialization process the individual learns the folkways, mores, sanctions and other patterns of culture as well as skills ranging from language to manual dexterity.
  • Lifelong process: The process of socialization starts right from the time of birth and continues till the death of the individual.
  • Process of cultural assimilation: An individual not only learns the folkways, mores, sanctions, norms and values but he imbibes and assimilates the culture of his society.
  • Process of becoming a functional member of society: Socialization consists of teaching the person the culture which we must acquire and share. It makes him a participating member in the society and in various groups.
  • Process of cultural transmission: Socialization is a process through which society transmits the cultural heritage from one generation to another.

Process of Socialization:

Process

  • Latency Stage: Generally this stage continues from 3-4 yrs to 12-13 yrs. The child requires something from his equals which he cannot get from a person in authority. From them he acquires the co-operative mentality and some of the informal aspects of culture like folkways, praises, facts, secrets, forbidden knowledge etc.
  • Adolescent Stage: This is the most important stage of socialization. It starts from 14 -15 yrs till 18-19 yrs. During this stage the individual is more attracted towards the classmates and friends. He gets interested more into recreation, fashion, clubs, sports etc.

The process of socialization is operated not only in childhood but throughout the life. It is a process which begins at birth and continues till the death of the individual.

According to Prof. Johnson, there are four stages of socialization:

  • Oral Stage: A child is born with some inborn physical and mental capacities. The mother is the first of the parents who begins the process of socialization. It is from her that the earliest social stimuli to which a child is subjected to learn. He responds to the stimuli by imitating them. Generally this stage continues till about one and a half years.
  • Anal Stage: This stage starts from one and a half year and continues till three years. In this stage the main source of socialization of the child is the family. In the family he starts to learn many things like speaking, walking, eating, etc. He also learns toilet training and starts recognizing family relations.

Factors of the process of Socialization:

Factors of process

There are four factors of the process of learning. These are:

Imitation: It is copying by an individual the actions of another. This may be conscious or unconscious, spontaneous or deliberate, perceptual or ideation. Imitation is the main factor in the process of socialization of a child. Language and pronunciation are also required by the child.

Suggestion: It is the process of communicating information which has no logical or self-evident basis. Suggestion influences not only behavior with others but also one’s own private and individual behavior. Propaganda and advertising are based on the fundamental principles of suggestion.

Identification: In the early years, the child cannot make any distinction between his self . and the environment. Most of his actions are random. As he grows in age he comes to know about the nature of things which satisfy his needs. Such things become the object of his identification. The spread and area of identification increase with the advancement in age. Through identification he becomes sociable.

Language: It is the medium of social interactions. It is the means of cultural transmissions. At first the child utters some random syllables which have no meaning but gradually he comes to learn his mother tongue. The mother tongue moulds the personality of the individual from infancy.

Importance of Socialization:

  • It makes transmission of culture possible over generations.
  • It helps individuals to perform their social roles.
  • It transforms individuals from a biological being to a social person.

Importance

Phases of Socialization

Phases

There are two broad phases:

  • Primary phase: It occurs from infant to late childhood. During this stage, family is the most important agency of socialization. The child learns the language and the basic behavior pattern during this phase, which forms a foundation for later learning.
  • Secondary phase: It extends from late childhood to maturity. During this phase other agents of socialization also play a role e.g. : peer group, school, media etc.
  • Adult Socialization: Socialization, however, is a lifelong process. Individuals throughout their lives are learning new roles associated with different stages of life which extend even beyond the stage of attaining maturity.

Thus, one can talk about adult socialization. It takes place when individuals enter roles in which primary and secondary socialization has not prepared them fully.

Agencies of Socialisation

The child is socialised by several agencies and institutions in which s/he participates, viz. family, school, peer group, the neighbourhood, the occupational group and by social class/caste, by region, by religion.

Agencies of Socialisation are various groups or institutions that play a significant role in the socialization of an individual and in shaping that person's personality

Agencies

Mass Media

Mass Media

  • function to inform, entertain, and educate
  • designed to reach a large audience
  • influences our opinion on almost every issue that is sometimes good and sometimes bad

Peer Group

Peer Groups

  • informal grouping of two or more members, more or less of the same age. neighborhood, or school
  • is the one agency of socialization not controlled primarily by adults
  • becomes an important reference group

School

School

  • help the child to get along with other kids
  • resposible for inculcating knowledge and skills, which prepare them for adulthood and become productive and effective citizens of the country

Family

  • plays an important role and has special responsibility in the socialization of a child
  • the most influential group in the child's life

Family

Workplace

Workplace

  • how one will fare out or work
  • learn to socialize to a company's norms and values
  • eventually, there is commitment wherein the work becomes a part of the person's self-identity

Church

Church

  • provides for the spiritual and moral needs of the child
  • help foster loving and harmonious relations with others in the family, neighborhood, school and the wider community
  • socialization continues as the individual joins church-based organizations or ministries

Socialisation and Individual

Freedom

Socialization and Individual

Freedom

It is perhaps evident that socialisation

in normal circumstances can

never completely reduce people to

conformity. Many factors encourage

conflict. There may be conflicts

between socialising agencies, between

school and home, between home and

peer groups.

However since the cultural settings in which we are born and come to maturity so influence our behaviour, it might appear that we are robbed of any individuality or free will. Such a view is fundamentally mistaken. The fact that from birth to death we are involved in interaction with others certainly conditions our personalities, the values we hold, and the behaviour in which we engage. Yet socialisation is also at the origin of our very individuality and freedom. In the course of socialisation each of

us develops a sense of self-identity, and the capacity for independent

thought and action.

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