Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

Chapter 3: Social Processes, Part 1 Objectives 1. To define relevant terms in the culture, social interaction, and socialization realms of sociology. 2. To understand what “culture” is and how it affects sociological studies. 3. To explain theories of social interaction. 4. To familiarize students with important theorists and theories of socialization. 3.1 Culture Sociologists consider culture to be all the shared material and nonmaterial products of a society, the system developed to define a way of life for a society or group. Specifically, material culture ismade up of physical objects created and valued by members of a society, like buildings, businesses, clothing, automobiles, factories, etc. Nonmaterial culture revolves around abstract, intangible human creations, including rules, knowledge, values, politics, language, myths, beliefs, etc. Culture and society are two completely different entities. While culture is the product of aninteractive society, society is made up of people who share a culture. The two terms are interrelated and dependent on each other. Without one, the other cannot exist. Culture is not only shared across generations, but it is dependent on each subsequent generation learning it. Along with their biological disposition, the culture an individual learns and grows in greatly influences their behavior. Rather than the instincts of animals, most researchers refer to simple reflexes and basic drives when discussing humanity’s common behaviors. Simple reflexes are involuntary muscle responses. Basic drives are urges for the fulfillment of basic needs, like self- preservation, food,drink, and sex. Culture helps to dictate just how a person goes about fulfilling these drives; culture establishes what is acceptable and what is not. Cultural Components Culture is constrained by several factors. Norms control the behavior of a society; they act as a set of guidelines that establish what is accepted as appropriate behavior in given situations. Social life flows smoother when guidelines like this are adopted. Some norms apply to society in general, while others only apply to certain groups or certain situations. For the most part, all members of a society readily conform to the established norms. The three social norms are folkways, mores, and law. • Folkways cover the ordinary and everyday conventions of normal life. Nonconformity of a folkway is not considered immoral and is generally not illegal. An example of a folkway is making appointments and keeping them. A nonconformist would be one who breaks an appointment without calling. A nonconformist in this case is not labeled a pariah. • Mores (pronounced “more-ays”) are stronger and more significant morally. The nonconformity to a more is a more serious matter. In some cases, the breaking of it is repugnant to the general populace. For example, eating human flesh is revolting to most North

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