;UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY,

AND POLITICS
Lesson 1: TWO TYPES OF CULTURE
Introduction to Culture, Society, and Material Culture
 refers to physical objects (such as
Politics
Prepared by: automobiles, books, buildings, etc.)
Christine Dianne T. Magbanua, LPT Nonmaterial Culture
 includes, belief, family, language,
UNLOCKING DIFFICULTIES: political, etc.

The following are the key words and COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

challenging terms used in this module: TECHNOLOGY
 A society’s culture is composed of
1. Identity- distinctive characteristic that objects and rules of using it. Sociologist
defines an individual or is shared by term this combination of material and
those belonging to a particular group. culture as technology.
2. Culture- society’s way of life, provides SYMBOLS
 It is the very basis of human culture
the basis for forging identities
3. Anthropology- study of the biological, which is use to represent something
cultural, and social aspects of man else. Hence, it is through symbols that
4. Sociology- study of social life, groups we create culture and communicate
and society. with it.
5. Political Science- study of politics LANGUAGE
 It is the organization of written and
IDENTITY, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY spoken symbols into a standardized
system with accepted rules of grammar
Identity- distinctive characteristic that defines use to express ideas.
an individual or shared by those belonging to VALUES
 These are shared beliefs about what is
a particular group.
good or bad, right or wrong, desirable
Note: and undesirable. Example: a society
Identity can also change over the course of a that values war and displays of
person’s lifetime. physical strength above all else will be
very different from one that
Why Identity is Important? emphasizes cooperation and sharing.
 They shape both individual and group
NORMS
 Norms are created to reinforce cultural
behavior as well as people’s views
about other people and society. values. Hence, these shared rules of
 Helps a person to understand that
conduct will help people react on
identities are relational and contextual, specific situation. Remember, norms
thereby avoiding common pitfall of are expectation of behavior, not actual
having misguided notions or prejudices governing certain behaviors. This
of other people that are solely based on further explain that the actions of all
one’s subjective views. individuals are not necessarily be in
Example: line with those norms.
-Food Taboos among Muslims TWO TYPES OF NORMS
-Istambays Folkways
 Norms that describe socially
Culture- society’s way of life, provides the acceptable behavior but do not have
basis for forging identities. Refers to the great moral significance attached to it.
knowledge, language, values, customs, and In essence, it outlines the common
physical objects that are passed from customs of everyday life.
generation to generation among members of Mores
 Have great moral significance attached
the group.
to it. This relation exists because the
 violation of such rules will endanger 1. It happens everywhere, but the rate
society’s well-being and society. of change varies from place to
Example: dishonesty, fraud, and murder are place.
all greatly threaten society. These are
deviances from cultural mores. Example: The Philippines would experience
slower change, than a first world country like
Society- group of people living in a Japan that has advance access to technology
community. It is a web of social relationship, and information.
which is always changing (MacIver and
Page) 2. Social change is sometimes intentional
but often unplanned.
HUMAN CULTURAL VARIATION, SOCIAL
CHANGE, AND POLITICAL IDENTITIES Example: When airplane was invented
people knew that this would make travelling
 Cultural variations exist not only faster and convenient. On the other hand, it
among societies but also within was probably not predicted how this invention
societies. The major source of cultural would affect society in the future. Families are
variation within a society are the spread throughout the country, because it is
unique cultural practices of various easier to return for visits.
subgroups. Some of this diversity
happens as a result of social 3. Social change often generates
category – groups that share a social controversy.
characteristic such as age, genders, or
religions. Example: Today, same sex marriage has
caused controversy involving the religion, and
Significant reasons for Cultural Variations society overall.

1. Environment - Why do Dumagats different 4. Some changes matter more than others
from Bajaos? Environmental condition is one do.
of the evident reasons as inhabitants must
adapt in order to survive. Also, from this Example: The invention of mobile phone
adaptation, people’s way of life can be was more important than Radio.
described such as the kind of economies they
practice. Lesson 2: Understanding Culture, and
2. Isolation – as one society cut down its Society
interaction from the other, this follows the
creation of a set of norms and values distinct UNLOCKING DIFFICULTIES:
from the other culture.
3. Technology – when tools are available in The following are the key-word and
one culture, it likely affects the culture of a challenging terms used in our
society. This explains why Filipino dating and discussion:
courtship practices has significant differences  Anthropology. Systematic study of
with the Filipino customs a decade ago. the biological, cultural, and social
aspects of man.
 Social change is the transformation of  Sociology. study of the human social
culture and social organization/ life, groups, and society.
structure over time. Hence, we are  Political Science. study of politics,
aware that society is never static, it activity through which people make,
constantly changes. preserve and amend general rules
under which they live.
Characteristics of Social
Change (Macionis 1996): Social Science

 Study of identity, culture, society

and politics .
 Comprised of wide array of academic  Provides a deeper assessment of
disciplines that study the overall individual and group behavior as well
functions of society as well as as social phenomena by examining
interaction among individual members interplay between economic, political
and institution. and social factors.
 Most prominent academic discipline  Shaped by the works of August
are Anthropology, Sociology and Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx,
Political Science. Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.

Anthropology Sociologist
 Systematic study of the biological,  examine and present new insights and
cultural, and social aspects of man. perspectives different elements and
 derived from the Greek word aspects of society such as culture,
“anthropos” which means “man”, and gender, race and ethnicity, social
logos, which means “study” or movements, class and other forms of
“inquiry”. social stratification, crime and other
 Integrates elements from biological organizations and institutions.
sciences and humanities to fully  Seeks to explain the bases of social
comprehend the complex human order and social change.
species, including past practices and  Performed improvements in social
social patterns across diverse policy and welfare rely on research.
culture.
Political Science
Anthropologist  Study of politics, power and
 Renowned anthropologist are Edward government.
Burnett Taylor, Franz Boas, Alfred  The activity through which people
Kroeber, Bronislaw Malinoski, make, preserve, and amend the
Clifford Geertz, and Margaret Mead. general rules under which they live
 Have diverse fields of study and areas (Andre Heywood).
of interest.  Focuses on the fundamental values of
equality, freedom, and justice and
ANTHROPOLOGY FIELDS OF STUDIES its processes are linked to the
 Social anthropology. Study social dynamics of conflict, resolution and
patterns and practices and cultural cooperation.
variations develop across different
societies Political Scientist.
 Cultural Anthropology. Studies  Help us understand the nature and
cultural variations across different characteristics of authority and power
societies and examines the need to distribution and how it shapes the way
understand each culture in its own society is organized.
context.  Analyze the wide array of topics
 Linguistic Anthropology. Studies including systems of governance,
language and discourse. political theories, the law-making
 Biological or Physical process, political behavior and ethics,
Anthropology. Studies the origins of policies and their implications, political
human, social factors and process of organizations and the electoral
human evolution. process
 Archaeology. Deals with prehistoric
societies by studying their tools and FIELDS OF STUDY AND BRANCHES OF
environment POLITICAL SCIENCE
Public administration examines how the
Sociology government functions and how decision and
 Study of human social life, groups, and policies are made.
society. (Anthony Giddens)
Comparative politics compares domestic recruitment processes for political
politics and governance systems across parties, and acquainting an immigrant
different sovereign states. to significant aspect of life in his/her
Political economy evaluates the interplay new country
between economics, politics and law and its
implications to the various institutions within
society.
Lesson 3: SOCIALIZATION AND ENCULTURATION
ENCULTURATION
- the process by which people learn the
Unlocking Difficulties: requirements of their surrounding
culture and acquire the values and
The following are the key-word and behaviors appropriate or necessary in
challenging terms used in our discussion: that culture.

 Socialization. Lifelong process of THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON

social interaction through which people ENCULTURATION/
acquire their identities and all SOCIALIZATION
necessary skills for survival in society.
 Deviance. Behavior that elicits a  LOOKING GLASS SELF THEORY
strong negative reaction from others in - Charles Horton Cooley is the
a particular group or setting. proponent
 Conformity. Process of altering one’s - It states that a person’s sense of self is
behavior to adapt to more socially- actually derived from the perception of
accepted means and goals. others as we perceive ourselves on
how other people think of us.
Socialization and Enculturation  ROLE-TAKING THEORY
- George Herbert Mead is the
JOHN LOCKE
proponent
- British Enlightenment
Philosopher ,said that human mind at - development of social awareness is
birth is nothing but a blank slate, or traced to our early social interaction.
tabula rasa. - This perception of Mead led him into
- as child grows, various experiences the idea that out of social interaction,
imprint knowledge on his or her mind. sense of self emerges, which is
- Did not believe that the human mind composed of two (2) parts: i.e. the
has innate conceptions. “Me” and the “I.” The “Me” represents
the perceptions of what other people
SOCIALIZATION think of us and the “I” is the
- Refers to the lifelong process of social independent, spontaneous, and
interaction through which people unpredictable side of ourselves.
acquire their identities and necessary
Example:
survival skills in society.
When we were infants, we learned
- It prepares new members of society
and trains to think, feel, and act in that when we cry, our parents carry
appropriate ways. us and feed us milk. Overtime, we
- Considered as central process of learn more ways drawing out
social life desired behavior from others.
Example:
STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF
Activities like child-rearing, the  Imitation – the child starts with
orientation of a student to his or her mimicking behaviors and actions of
new school, initiation of an significant others around him or her.
organization, attendance in Sunday  Play – the child takes different roles he
school, catechism for Catholics,
or she observes in “adult” society, and
 plays them out to gain an Conformity (Green Flag)
understanding of the different social
- act of exhibiting the same as the
roles.
behavior of most other people in a
 Game – the child must take the role of
society, group, etc.
everyone else involves in the game. In
the game stage, the organization Deviance (Red Flag)
begins and definite personalities start
to emerge. - the recognized violation of cultural
 Generalized Others – children begin norms.
to function in organized groups, and SOCIAL CONTROL
most importantly, to determine what
they will do within a specific group. - refers to the set of means to ensure
that people generally behave in
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION expected and approved ways. Used to
 FAMILY maintain norms, rules and laws;
- has a major impact on us. Each one regulate conflict and discourage
lays down our basic sense of self, deviant behavior.
forming our initial motivations, values,  Internal Social Control
and beliefs. - refers to the socialization process that
 SCHOOL developed within the individual as we
- a primary agent of socialization. do things when we know it is the right
Schools were able to contribute to self thing to do.
development by exposing us to people Example: People will not kill for they
who are not our relatives, thus know it’s wrong.
exposing us to new attitudes, values,  External Social Control
and ways of looking at the world. - refers to social sanctions or the system
 PEERS(PEER GROUP) of rewards and punishments
- can ease the transition from designated to encourage desired
adolescence to adult responsibilities behavior.
for it offers young people an identity - Example: Giving high grades to
that supports some independence students who evidently study hard.
from their families. Imprisonment for those who do crimes.
 MASS MEDIA SANCTIONS
- especially in the form of television, has
become the primary source of - Common means of social control and
information about the world, thus are often employed to address conflict
enabling us to view a wide range of and violations of social norms.
role models and occupations.  FORMAL SANCTIONS
 WORKPLACE - Are those provided for by laws and
- allows us to learn to behave properly other regulations in society.
within an occupation, at the same time, - written and have official consequences
indicates that one has passed out of obeying or disobeying the law.
adolescence stage. - Positive:
 RELIGION Good grade given by teacher
- collection of cultural systems, belief Medal of Honor given by the
systems, and worldviews that relate Government
humanity to spirituality and moral - Negative:
values. Speeding ticket given by a cop
- social agents influence individuals' Detention given by the Principal
religious beliefs and understandings.  INFORMAL SANCTIONS

CONFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

 - Are most imposed by smaller HUMAN RIGHTS
societies, communities or groups.
- inherent to all human beings, whatever
- There are no set laws or regulations
our nationality, place of residence, sex,
that define the nature of these
national or ethnic origin, color, religion,
sanctions, and these are often
language, or any other status. These
arbitrarily agreed upon by members of
rights are all interrelated,
the group or society.
interdependent, and indivisible.
- Positive:
- It is not a privilege.
Inviting someone to sit with you in
- It is something that can be taken away
cafeteria because they help you in
at someone’s whim.
class
- Negative: THE COMMON GOOD
Giving someone a dirty look for telling
on you in class. - in tribal notion, has served as the
Yelling at someone talking/texting moral justification of most social
loudly in a movie theater systems— and of all tyrannies—in
history.
FORMS OF DEVIANCE - The degree of a society’s enslavement
or freedom corresponded to the
 Innovation – rejecting the use of
degree to which that tribal slogan was
socially accepted means to achieve
invoked or ignored. It is also referred
success Examples: theft, burglary,
to the public interest.
embezzlement, etc.
- it is an undefined and undefinable
 Ritualism – rejecting the importance
concept. It is a meaningless concept,
of success goals but continue to toil as
unless taken literally, in which case, its
conscientious and diligent workers
only possible meaning is – the sum of
Examples: A teacher goes to class
the good of all the individual men
without any concern for his students.
involved.
An employee who goes to work
without any concern for the quality of GOALS OF SOCIALIZATION
his work.
 Retreatism – Withdrawal from the  Socialization teaches impulse control
society and does not care about and helps individuals develop a
success Examples: alcoholics, drug conscience.
addicts, gambler  Socialization teaches individuals how
 Rebellion – Attempts to change the to prepare for and perform certain
goals and means of society Examples: social roles – occupation roles, gender
terrorists, leftist, guerrillas roles, and roles of institutions such as
marriage and parenthood.
HUMAN DIGNITY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND  Socialization cultivates shared sources
THE COMMON GOOD of meaning and value
HUMAN DIGNITY
- something that can’t be taken away.
Catholic Social Teaching states that
each and every person has value, are
worthy of great respect, and must be
free a slavery, manipulation, and
exploitation.
- It is the basis of fundamental human
rights. It is inviolable and must be
respected and protected.