Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

Cultural Variations Not only do differences exist between cultures, but differences are evident amongst groups within one culture. The differences are usually due to the disparity between the ideal culture (the established standard of norms and values) and the r al ulture (the actual norms and values practiced within a society). A man who states his belief in the sanctity of marriage is obviously disparaging his own belief when he sleeps with a woman who is not his wife. Groups that are part of the culture, but not completely interwoven with them create another source of variation. These subcultures tend to have their own subset of norms, values, and lifestyles. Subcultures develop across many platforms; they can be occupation related, race related, or age related, and they exist in every major modern society. A counterculture , on the other hand, has values, norms, and lifestyles completelyat odds with that of the dominant culture. This is not always a negative (like the KKK), but can be positive (like the Amish). Overall, cultural integration, the tendency toward certain mores, values, and beliefs evenamong the diverse groups of a society, must remain or the entire culture is open for extinction. Too rapid a change leads to dangerous territory for any society. Because people are resistant to change, it usually occurs slowly. Cultural changes most often revolve around economic or environmental concerns. The three processes that lead to this kind of change are discovery, invention, and diffusion. • Discovery is an increase in knowledge or insight. • I nvention is the new use of existing knowledge to create something that did notexist before. • Diffusion is the spread of cultural elements from one culture into another. 3.2 Societal Structure A society is a population that resides in the same physical territory, is under the authority ofthe same political entity, and shares the same common culture. Sociologists believe humans cannot survive without society. Many sociologists affirm that every human function is in some way ‘social.’ Understanding the structure of societies leads to greater insights for researchers. Social structure is the pattern of interacting relationships among the different components of the society. In essence, social structure relates how the elements in a society relate to one another. Most social structures remain stable and offer a sense of security to the society. The efficiency of the structure, however, can leave little to no room for personal freedoms in regime-like societies. A society’s structure is comprised of: status, roles, groups, and institutions. • Status is a person’s position in a society. (A social class is a group of people in onesociety who have the same status.) An individual’s status clearly defines his or her place in societyand how he or she should relate to others. An individual can have many statuses at once. A master status is a person’s most significant, or the one that identifies their social positionthe clearest.

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