Resumen sociologia

THE INDIVIDUAL & THE SOCIETY

CULTURE

Human beings are social animals.

CULTURE: Things that are shared by the members of a society that, also, make it possible to understand and predict other people.
It is the whole way of a life of a group of people.

SOCIALISATION: The process of learning the culture.

* CULTURAL DIVERSITY: Differences between cultures.
* INSTINCTS:Animals act by instinct: patterns of behaviors that are inherited, not learned (migration to new places).
* REFLEXES: Patterns that have been learned by humans (stop at red light).

UNSOCIALISED CHILDREN: Studies suggest that children who do not grow up with other humans cannot fully make up for this later. Early years are vital.

WHAT MAKE US HUMAN: To many sociologists, it is thepossession of culture shared with others that fully makes us humans. The basic element we learn is to communicate.

NORMS, MORES, VALUES & ROLES

NORM: Unspoken and unwritten rules of behavior in everyday life. Sometimes are explicitly taught by parents or others, but often through observation and by trial and error.

MORES: stronger form of norms according to what society believes isessential to maintain standards of decency (moral aspect: right & wrong).

RULES, REGULATIONS & LAWS: Usually written down. Those who break them, get punishment.

VALUES: Beliefs that lie behind social norms (not to sit besides someone alone in a bus, to respect values of privacy and personal space)

* The majority in any society shares values and the ideas of what is right andwrong. People differ in attitudes (people prefer democracy but differ in political parties).
* Knowing the values of a society helps work out what the norms are likely to be.
* Values differ enormously between societies (being respected by possessions & materialism vs. being respected by giving away everything).

ROLE & STATUS

* Status: is the position someone has in society.* Ascribed status: social characteristics fixed at birth (gender, ethnicity…)
* Achieved status: result of person’s own efforts (career)

* Role: set of norms that go with status.
Everyone has many roles that switch easily: family, work, social & leisure roles.
There are also many roles that we play only occasionally or for short periods (patient, customer).
Each role makesus share interests and relationships with others.
When we know and understand each other’s roles, social life becomes orderly & predictable.
* Role conflict: Roles not always fit together well (in school: student & friend)

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

CULTURAL UNIVERSALS: What cultures share, forms of behaviors found in all cultures

1. Language: needed to communicate feelings, tobe aware of one’s self, past & future.
2. Marriage & the family: relationship between man-woman for the purpose of having and raising children (monogamy, polygamy…).
3. Religion: Beliefs in god/gods, supernatural power, rituals…
4. Property: Rules on individual or family to claim things as their own.
5. A ban on incest: Sexual relationships between close relatives isforbidden in almost all cultures.

HOW CULTURES DIFFER: Among huge other forms of diversities, we will only look at two types:

1. Food: What is eaten, when & how.
2. Clothing: protection from weather, sexes

CULTURAL RELATIVISM: Avoiding making judgments of different cultures, avoiding assuming that one’s way of doing things is better that other’s.

AN END TO DIVERSITY? WesternAmerican consumer culture became popular in many countries (drinking Coca-cola, eating McDonald’s, listening to certain music, speaking English), but this does not mean that the cultural diversity will disappear. The response of many cultures is to keep traditions they value (it can be a way to make money out of tourists). Also they might combine some aspects as well as western countries borrow...