Topic 1: Key concepts

Cards (106)

  • Culture
    The whole way of life of a particular society or social group
  • Elements of culture
    • Values
    • Norms
    • Customs
    • Beliefs
    • Knowledge
    • Skills
    • Language
  • Norms
    Expected behaviours in different contexts (situations)
  • Norms are part of culture
  • Values
    What is considered worthwhile and worth working for in society
  • Values are learned and shared
  • Our values
    Influence the way we behave
  • A culture will also have norms that indicate acceptable ways to achieve the values
  • Two important values you must remember for your exam
    • Health
    • Wealth
  • Many British people value family and success
  • An important value in our society is acquiring wealth
  • Acquiring wealth
    • Acquire money
    • Acquire land
    • Acquire property
    • Live a comfortable life
  • Value: Health
    Maintaining good physical and mental wellbeing
  • Maintaining good health
    • Taking care of our bodies physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally
  • Value in India

    Respect ancestors and Gods
  • Hindus in India
    View and value the 'cow' as a sacred object
  • Value of Native American Indian tribes such as the Sioux
    Bravery, courage and protection
  • Native American Indian tribes
    • Sioux
  • Person representing Native American Indian value of bravery
    • Chief Sitting Bull
  • In the UK some have turned their back on achieving wealth in favour of more caring values
  • In 2008, there were 470 Nuns and 135 Monks in the Anglican Church in Britain and Ireland
  • Many others give up their jobs to take care of their children or elderly relatives
  • Roles
    Expected behaviour or part played by someone in a particular situation
  • Status
    Respect others give you in society, your position in society
  • Identity
    How we see ourselves and how others see us
  • Sanctions
    An attempt to enforce social control and prevent deviance from social norms and values
  • Types of sanctions
    • Positive
    • Negative
    • Informal
    • Formal
  • Cultural diversity
    The idea that what is considered acceptable or desirable in one culture may not be viewed the same way in another culture
  • Cultural Diversity between groups

    • We share a culture within the UK
    • Within our culture, there a lots of other norms, values and customs within different groups in the same country
    • Different cultural practises can be found in different religious groups, social class groups and age groups
  • Sikh culture
    • Men are required to wear a turban
    • Initially this caused a clash of cultural practise in Britain of wearing a crash helmet when riding a motorbike until a law was passed allowing Sikhs to ride without a helmet
  • Regional culture
    • Different regions in the UK speak in their own unique dialect
    • Different regions in the UK have their own traditions
  • Behaviour
    • Mostly determined by our genetics
    • Inherited from parents, just like eye colour
  • Sexuality
    Coded in the genes
  • Intelligence

    Coded in the genes
  • Maternal instinct

    Coded in the genes
  • Nurture
    Sociologists tend to argue that nurture is more significant and that human behaviour is mostly learned
  • Nurture
    • Individuals are socialised into the culture of their family and society and taught how to live in society by the agencies of socialisation
    • Intelligence and maternal instinct are a result of nurture
  • Cultural diversity: All societies and cultures would be similar if behaviour was natural
  • Feral
    Wild or unsocialised
  • Feral children
    Children removed from normal human contact and have missed normal processes of human socialisation