BSIP IV: GROUP IV

CULTURE
Reporter: Ms. Mecerdita Quiachon
What is Culture?
- According
to
an
English
anthropologist, Edward Taylor, it is a
complex
whole
which
includes
knowledge, belief, art, law, morals,
customs and any other capabilities
and habits acquired by people as
members of society.
- A persons social heritage or the
customary ways in which groups
organize their ways of behaving,
thinking and feeling. It is transmitted
from one generation to another
through language.
Culture is unique to humans, but
culture varies from society to society.
Culture comprises all the objects,
ideas, beliefs, norms of a group of
people, and the meanings that the
group applies to each cultural
element.
- This concept refers to two different but
related ideas:
o Culture as a real phenomenon
things that are readily visible and
are as real as any of the other
phenomena in nature. (car,
planting rice)
o Culture as an abstraction
culture is an abstract form of
behavior and may be observed in
the activities of people, in what
people do and say, what they
avoid doing, and how they make
artifacts. (implied in hearing Mass
on Sundays is love for God)
Language and Culture
- Language, among people, refers to the
systematized usage of speech and
hearing to convey, communicate or
express feelings and ideas.
- Symbol is anything that stands or
represents something else. Symbols
may be colors, emblems, gestures,
designs, marks, or words.

Language is an integral part of culture

and human culture cannot exist
without it. All human societies.
Language is an excellent medium in
which to study the value system of
any people because it reveals choices,
directions of interest, and differences
among age, sex, and occupational
groups.

Culture as a Mode of Adaptation

- Culture enables people to adjust to
their physical as well as social
environment. Culture enables the
members of society to develop ways
of coping with the exigencies of nature
as well as ways of harnessing their
environment. People also have to learn
to relate themselves with others in
order to survive. As Schwartz pointed
out, the culture of any society
represents
an
adaptation
or
adjustment to the various conditions
of life, including their physical, social
and supernatural environment.
- No culture is completely static.
Behavior as Biologically Based
Edward Wilson
- A sociobiologist who proposed that
behavior is biologically based.
- Author of the book, Sociology: The
New Synthesis
- He held that social behavior is
determined by inborn genetic traits
similar to the influence of genetic
traits on lower animals.
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
Reporter: Ms. Sharalyn J. Ramirez
Knowledge
- The total range of what has been
learned of perceived as true is
knowledge. This body of information is
accumulated
through
experience,
study, or investigation. What is
considered true though may change.
o Natural
knowledge

the
accumulated facts about the
natural world, including both the
biological and physical aspects.
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Technological
knowledge

knowledge of the nature which

are useful in dealing with
practical problems like knowledge
of the methods of acquiring food,
dealing with diseases, means of
transportation,
tools
and
implements, and weapons of war.
o Supernatural
knowledge

perceptions about the actions of

gods, goddesses, demons, angel
or spirits, and natural beings like
shamans, witches, or prophets
who
are
held
to
possess
supernatural powers.
o Magical knowledge perceptions
about methods of influencing
supernatural
events
by
manipulating certain laws of
nature.
Social Norms
- Is an idea in the minds of the
members of a group put into a
statement specifying what members
of the group should do, ought to do or
are expected to do under certain
circumstances. What is important in a
norm is that any departure from it is
followed by some punishment or
sanction.
- Norms define the proper ways of
behaving for a number of situations.
- Like any aspect of the culture, norms
vary from society to society or from
group to group within a society. Norms
differ according to the age, sex,
religion, occupation, or ethnic group.
Among social norms are folkways,
mores and laws.
o Folkways commonly known as
the customs, traditions and
conventions of a society. They are
the general rules, customary and
habitual ways and patterns of
expected behavior within the
society where it is followed,
without much thought given to
the matter. (eating merienda)
o
Mores special folkways which
are important to the welfare of
the people and their cherished
values. They are based on ethical
and moral values which are
o

strongly held and emphasized.

They are the must and should
of the society.
Laws formalized norms, enacted
by people who are vested with
governmental
power
and
enforced by political and legal
authorities designated by the
government.
Collective Form of Behavior
Fashions, fads, crazes and other
passing fancies operate primarily
as forces of social change, yet
they may be considered shortlived social norms.
Sanctions a system of rewards
and punishments.
Positive
sanctions

rewards
Negative
sanctions

punishments
Informal
Sanctions

gossip, favorable and

unfavorable
public
opinion,
giving
or
withdrawing
affective
love or friendship
Formal Sanctions used
for violations of norms in
organizations
or
associations

Values
- Abstract concepts of what is important
and worthwhile. These values are the
basis of our judgment, of what we
consider good, desirable, and correct,
as well as what is considered bad,
undesirable, ugly and wrong.
Beliefs
- Beliefs embody the perception of
reality and include the primitive ideas
of the universe as well as the
scientists empirical value of the
world.
Technology and Material Culture
o Technology the techniques and
know-how in utilizing raw materials
to produce food, tools, shelter,
clothing, means of transportation,
and weapons.
o The material objects that are the
products of technology are called
artifacts.
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CULTURE SHOCK, UNITY AND DIVERSITY

IN CULTURE
Reporter: Mr. Roland Sacristan
Culture Shock
- When people encounter another
culture whose patterns of behavior are
diverse from their own, they might get
disoriented or disorganized. It is a
situation which is brought about by
unfamiliarity, lack of understanding
and inability to communicate with the
society they come in contact with.
They find themselves smothered and
disgusted by the customs and beliefs
they encounter.
Unity in Culture
All societies provide for certain broad
areas of social living. Wissler identified
these as the universal patterns of culture,
such as speech, material traits, art,
mythology and scientific knowledge,
religious practice, family and social
systems, property, government, and war.
Culture universals are accounted for by
human beings biological drives, psychic
unity, dependence upon group life,
individuality and the limited possibilities
within
ones
physical
and
social
environment.
1. Human
biological
drives.
C
Kluchohm pointed out that cultures
are preconditioned by human
biological drives which appear to
be products of the individuals
organic balance. All persons are
alike in many aspects. They are
alike in range of emotions, in the
need for love and security, in the
capacity to symbolize, and in being
subject to conditioning.
Mark Zborowski stated that in
human
societies,
biological
processes vital for ones survival
acquire
social
and
cultural
significance.
Insights into the significance and
role of social and cultural patterns
in human physiology are necessary

to clarify those aspects of human

experience which remain puzzling
if
studied
only
within
the
physiological frame of reference.
2. Psychic Unity. Ones psychic unity
is not exactly identical with his or
her inherited psychological traits. It
is drawn from ones cognitive
structure,
trait
configurations,
acquired
predisposition,
and
unconscious processes.
a. Cognitive structure made
up of concepts and beliefs
by which one defines the
world around him or her.
b. Habit structure of deeper
significance
are
the
individuals
regimented
ways, perceiving his or her
environment,
thought
processes, and emotional
response patterns.
*Perception is the process
through
which
people
translate their observations
into internalized, meaningful
experiences.
*Patterned
thought
processes
involve
both
interpersonal communication
and self-communication. Tis
means
the
habitual
association of specific word
symbols, either oral or
written, with specific, more
meaningful experiences.
c. Trait configurations any
characteristic that can be
observed or measured. It
refers to repetitive way of
reacting to a particular
event. It simply gives a
pattern of behavior a name:
for example, extroverted,
inner-directed,
lover,
isolative,
masochistic,
narcissistic,
aggressive,
pushy, etc.
d. Acquired predispositions
repetitive manner in which
an
individual
appears
inclined to favor or disfavor
a person or group, an object,
or a situation or event that
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arises periodically in his or

her
environment.
These
consist
of
preferences,
idiosyncrasies,
prejudices,
attitudes and values.
*Preferences
are
the
individuals tendencies to
accept or reject a wide
variety of objects.
*Attitudes are comprised of a
number
of
relatively
enduring
tendencies
to
accept or reject an object,
concept or entity.
3. Dependence upon group life. The
and type of group persons will
continually enjoy, the people they
will cooperate and compete or
even have conflict with to achieve
their goals, the groups they will
depend on for help are factors
involved in constant struggle for
survival.
4. Physical and social environment.
Montesquieu believes that the
geographical
environment
can
have
significant
conditioning
effects upon the economic aspects
of societies.
Diversity in Culture
The comparative characteristics of culture
are deduced not only by looking for
similarities but also for variability,
integration and relativity.
1. Cultural
variability.
Cultures
differ because of the great
variety of solutions people of
different societies evolve in
solving life problems. Aldous
Huxley points out that the
intellectual
capabilities
of
human beings changed over the
last twenty or thirty thousand
years. Currently available social
science evidences indicate that
cultural diversity is not due to
peoples
inherent
learning
capabilities.
Although
comparative testing is difficult
to carry out, members of all
human societies have exhibited
approximately the same level of
intelligence.

2. Cultural integration. Cultures

also vary significantly in the
degree of their being internally
consistent in their pattern of
values, belief and behavior. If
the ideals to which people
commit
themselves
are
inconsistent with what they
believe
in
and
do
while
behaving as family members,
teachers, or other professionals,
or
when
students
are
inconsistent with what they
believe
in
and
do
while
engaging in economic, political,
and other activities, then their
culture
has
more
built-in
stresses and strains. A relatively
well integrated culture is one
where there are no outstanding
contradictions between peoples
beliefs and their behavior
between one set of beliefs or
actions and another, between
institutional goals and means
within the society.
3. Cultural relativity. Differences in
culture also arise from the
relativity of the standards that
societies uphold and use for
evaluating
truth,
right,
propriety,
virtue,
morality,
legality, justice, beauty, and the
means of adhering to these.
*Standards of behavior then
must be understood within the
context of societys culture.
(Ethnocentrism
and
Xenocentrism)
CULTURAL RELATIVISM,
ETHNOCENTRISM AND XENOCENTRISM
Reporter: Ms. Melanie Cajes
Cultural Relativism
Culture is relative and no cultural practice
is good or bad in itself. It is good if it
integrates smoothly with the rest of the
culture. This is the concept of cultural
relativism which is an alternative
perspective
to
ethnocentrism.
The
concept of cultural relativism states that
cultures differ, so that a cultural trait, act,
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or idea has no meaning or function by

itself but has meaning only within its
cultural setting. A trait is good or bad only
with reference to the culture in which it
functions.
Ethnocentrism
There is a tendency for people who
belong to the same cultural group to
define reality from their own point of
view. One considers his or her ways as
right and normal, and the other peoples
ways, if they differ somehow, as wrong,
strange, or queers. The view to regard
ones culture as the best and better than
those of others is called ethnocentrism.
Literally, ethnocentrism means a belief
that ones group is at the center of
everything and all others are scaled and

rated with reference to it. Culture traits

and patterns are evaluated on the basis
of what is familiar. Considering their
group
as
superior,
the
members
sometimes look with contempt on
outsiders.
Xenocentrism
When some persons reject their group or
some parts of its culture, we call this case
reverse ethnocentrism or xenocentrism.
This is the idea that what is foreign is best
and that ones lifestyle, products or ideas
are inferior to that of others. Those
coming from foreign lands and the exotic
are particularly favored. Xenocentrism is
centered on a product, an idea or a
lifestyle.

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