Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

• Social group


  Two or more persons who interact and are aware of their being part of the group
• A group is not a mere collection of individuals but a collection of personalities acting and interacting with one another in the process of living
• Aggregate


  People who are at the same place at the same time but have little or no interaction
• Category


  A number of people who hold a common status but rarely or do not interact
• For aggregates or categories to become social groups, regular interaction and a sense of belongingness would have to develop
• Belonging to a group is essential to living as humans
• Every decision we make is affected by group influences
• Instrumental leader


  Guides the completion of task and is more concerned about accomplishing the plans of the group
• Family


  Basic social institution composed of father, mother and children
• Household


  May include boarders living in a common residence but has no marital or blood relationship with other members
• Kindred


  Blood relationship but may be divided into several households
• The Family Code defines family as the basic social institution of the State (Article 149)
• The Philippine Constitution recognizes the family as the foundation of the nation
• Biblical belief of the origin of family


  God created man and woman and told them to be fertile and multiply
• Sociocultural evolution belief of the origin of family


  Family must advance as society advances, and change as society changes
• Types of family

  • Nuclear family
  • Extended family
• Descent system

  • Consanguine
  • Affine
• Principles of kinship

  • Unilineal descent
  • Cognatic descent
  • Fictive kinship
• Expressive leader


  Guides the collective well-being of the group, task completion is not a priority but the welfare of the members
• Adoption


  Relationship ensued from the process assuming the parenting of a child transferring permanently all the rights and responsibilities of the biological parents to the adopting parents
• Figurative usage


  Affiliation is extended to a person who is not a kin but plays a role similar to that of a kinsperson
• Primary group


  Small "face-to-face" groups in which the interaction is direct and personal, characterized by personal orientation, long-term relationships, and broadly defined relationships
• Ritual kinship


  Association by co-parenting but different to that of actual kinship like the godparent-godchild relationship
• Symbols in traditional Filipino wedding ceremony

  • Candle
  • Cord
  • Veil
  • Ring
  • Coins
• Asawa


  Legitimate wife in precolonial Philippines
• Concubines


  Other women after the legitimate wife, considered illegitimate including their children and thus, excluded from inheriting any property from the father
• Dowry


  Necessary to get the blessing of the girl's parents for the marriage
• Babaylan


  Old priestess who would begin the actual wedding ceremony
• Hadji


  Person who would solemnize the wedding ceremony in the Muslim community
• Marriage in the Philippines is not only a union between two persons but also the merging of two families, including even their respected clans
• Secondary group


  Groups whose members have casual contact, characterized by goal orientation, short term and variable relationships, and narrowly defined relationships
• Social groups originating from the family

  • Clan
  • Tribe
  • Nation
• Reference group


  People who serve as a point of reference in one's decision making and evaluation, providing a standard against which we evaluate ourselves
• Group conformity


  Members seek the satisfaction of being like other members
• Solomon Ash's research showed that over one-third of unknowing subjects gave "wrong" answers to conform and avoid discomfort of giving different answers
• Stanley Milgram's research showed that unknowing subjects were likelier to administer higher voltage shocks when encouraged by others, especially if the others were perceived as legitimate authority figures
• Irving Janis' research conceptualized "groupthink" - a reduced capacity for critical reflection responsible for foreign policy errors in the US history
• Network


  A web of social bonds that connect people who interact and associate with each other
• Components of a network

  • Nodes (individuals, corporations, etc.)
  • Ties (electronic, communication, etc.)
  • Flows (information, money, ideas, etc.)
• Bureaucracy


  A social organization in which there are full-time administrators, arranged in a hierarchy, who have well-defined roles, and who follow rules