LESSON 2: ASPECTS OF CULTURE

A. Aspects of Culture: Dynamic, Flexible, and Adaptive

There are different aspects of culture as art, music, language, food, daily life, clothing, and religion to name a
few. These aspects of culture show us that culture is dynamic, flexible, and adaptive.

Culture constantly changes and adapts to the current state of the society. It continuously restores itself
whenever customs are not fit in the current situation anymore. It does not remain stagnant.

Examples:

1. In the aspect of music, we can see that music may change from time to time. The traditional music during the
1920s was mostly jazz, ragtime, and broad way musical while the popular music during the 1970s was disco
music.

2. Because we are now more inclined in using computers and tablets especially when playing games, some
children were not able to play street games anymore. This pushed some game developers to introduce Filipino
street games as video games.

3. When it comes to language, we can also see how culture adapts to changing times. We have already
developed new words related to the internet like memes, netizens, vines, and others.

B. Aspects of Culture: Shared and Contested

Culture is learned and acquired through different interactions with people. Culture is a shared learning
experience. Because culture constantly changes, we get to share the learning process with other people.

If culture is learned and shared, it is also contested in various ways and situations. Because of diversity, culture
is subjected to debate and analysis.

Tips

 Our society needs to preserve our indigenous culture as well as try to develop it further and spread it
further so that we can still maintain our identity as a nation.
 Our culture changes and adapts to our current society but that doesn't mean that our traditional culture
should be forgotten.
 Different cultures exist in the world but there is no culture greater than the other. We should learn to
accept our differences and help other culture learn ours as well as we should also try to learn theirs.
 We should also not judge the customs, norms, and beliefs of others because it is their unique culture.
C. Aspects of Culture: Socialization and Enculturation

Society is different from culture. Within a society are many diverse cultures. While the members of society share
many of the same expectations and experiences, the cultural groups create ones that differentiate them from
others in the community.

Socialization is the process through which people learn to understand the societal norms or expectations and
societal values as a member of the society.

Enculturation is the process by which an individual adopts the behavior patterns of the culture in which a person
is immersed.

Agents of Socialization

There are different agents of socialization: family, community, mass media, and religion.

Family

The family is the first social group that we all have. It is considered as the most important social group that a
person has. It is also considered as the principal agent of socialization.

We first start learning things with the help of our parents and our whole family. They are the main source of our
traits, behaviors, the values, norms and rules that we follow, and the ideas we initially believe in.

Community

Outside our homes, we get to interact with people and institutions from our community. One is the school. In
schools, we expose to ideas, values, norms, and behavior that may be different from what we learned in our
family.

We also get to interact with other people from our community who become our peers. Since children and
teenager spend most of their time with their peers, researches show that peer groups can create their sub-
culture (Mondal, 2015).

Our peers can also influence us with different norms, values, and behavior that they got from their families, and
vice versa.

Mass Media

One of the biggest influences in our culture is mass media. Mass media comes in the form of television,
movies, books, magazines, and now even social networking sites. Mass media proved to play a major role in
shaping the culture and behavior of an individual (Mondal, 2015).

Unfortunately, we can learn both good and bad behaviors through mass media that is why it is very important
that we are supervised when we are accessing all forms of media.

Religion
Another agent is our religion. Through our family, we are immediately exposed to the teachings of our religion. It
helps shape us as individuals and equips us with the attitude and behavior our religion deems right.

D. Aspects of Culture: Learned through Socialization or Enculturation

Socialization is an ongoing process of learning language, behaviors, customs, values, norms, and others to
acquire a personal identity. It helps us learn the culture. Socialization also teaches us how to interact with other
people and helps us develop the behaviors that we think are inborn or part of human nature. It is an essential
part of building our character and preserving, spreading, and strengthening our culture.

Another way of learning other cultures is called enculturation. For example, your friend migrated to America with
her family. You noticed on her Facebook that after three months of being in America, she started to act and look
differently and she is using some slang words you only hear Americans say. This is the process of enculturation.
Your friend is slowly starting to adapt to the American culture because it is necessary so she would fit in.

E. Aspects of Culture: Transmitted through Socialization or Enculturation

Culture can also be transmitted from one person to another, and even from one society to another. One good
example of this is the transmission of a culture of the Spanish to the Filipinos during the Spanish colonization.
The transfer of Spanish culture to the Filipinos is done through both socialization and enculturation. We learned
their culture by socializing with them, through the church and the schools they established.

Tips

The people or groups we socialize will greatly affect our behavior because we learn most of it through them.

Socialization begins during our childhood, even just right after we were born. The first group that teaches us
socialization is our family.

Throughout our lives, we will get to interact with a lot of different people from different cultures. We will learn
different behaviors, norms, or values from them. It is up to us to identify what we will keep/practice and what we
will reject.

Not all behaviors that we acquire can help us. There are some behaviors we learn that can be destructive in the
long run.

F. Aspects of Culture : Patterned Social Interaction

Socialization helps us acquire both good and bad parts of our culture. How do we identify the good and the
bad? There are five patterns of social interaction: exchange, cooperation, competition, conflict, and coercion.

Exchange

It is the most basic pattern of socialization. Exchange or social exchange is our expectation that whenever we
do something good, we will receive something good in return (Thompson and Hickey, 2005, p.129).

Example: You help your mother wash the dishes so that she will let you play outside with your friends.
Cooperation is when people or groups of people work together to achieve a common goal. Cooperation is
considered to be essential for human survival because, without cooperation, social life would be unmanageable
(Thompson and Hickey, 2005, p.129).

Example: The cooperation between the husband and wife in raising their children. Without their cooperation,
their child would not grow up the way they want him/her to be. There are also negative social interactions that
are necessary for us to develop and sharpen our behavior and culture.

Competition may be viewed as the opposite of cooperation because instead of working together towards a
common goal, competing individuals or groups battle to achieve the target that only one can have (Thompson
and Hickey, 2005, p.129).

Example: You badly want to win the spelling bee competition because you want your parents to be proud of
you. You studied and practiced hard and eventually won. Whether or not you win, at least you got to enhance
your spelling skills.

Conflict arises when people disobey rules, control a person by force, or hurt other people just to achieve their
goals. But conflict isn't always considered as bad. The existence of a conflict can strengthen the unity within a
group because they are threatened by an external factor (Thompson and Hickey, 2005, p.129).

Example: You and your sibling fight over the TV almost every night, but when conflict arises between you and
your parents, you and your sibling team up.

Coercion happens when a person uses threats or force to persuade another person (Dictionary.com). People
usually coerce others when they cannot achieve their goals on their own.

Example: You force your brother to do your chores by threatening him that you’ll tell your mother that he failed
his exam.

G. Aspects of Culture: Requires Language for Social Interaction

In every interaction that we do, language is the most important tool that we always use.

 Language is considered as the transporter of a large part of our culture because some parts of our
culture are passed on through our mouths, there are no written records (Young, 1930).
 We can perform the patterns of social interaction through the use of language.
 Language is not only restricted to verbal language, but we also use non-verbal language or body
language when we interact with others. Our first interaction with a stranger is usually a smile. This
shows that language, whether verbal or non-verbal, can help us learn and acquire culture.

H. Aspects of Culture : Integrated and at Times Unstable

The patterns of social interaction are connected with each other and may change from time to time. Our social
interaction may change from being cooperative to having competition or conflict. A simple social exchange may
lead to cooperation. A small competition may result in a big conflict.
Example: You and your sibling fight over little things almost every day. When you came to school the next day,
you saw your sibling being bullied by his classmates. You immediately came to his aid and you cooperated with
each other to stop the bullies. This scenario shows that even if you and your sibling fight almost every day, you
will still tend to unite in times of need.

Tips

Social exchange as a pattern of social interaction is not always active. Sometimes when we do harm to others,
we already anticipate that they will do something wrong to us in return because of this concept.

Competition is not always negative as well. There are also good games that push us to do our best to win and in
the process enhance our skills.

Conflict may result in hostility between the conflicting parties, but may lead to unity and cooperation among the
members of the same group.

Our social interactions are integrated so it varies depending on the situation. We may be friendly and
cooperative towards one person today, but this might change when we feel threatened.

LESSON 3: ETHNOCENTRISM AND CULTURAL RELATIVISM

ETHNOCENTRISM

People have a tendency to judge or evaluate other culture in the context of their own culture. Language,
behavior, customs, or religion, which are understandably unique for every culture are the common subjects of
these judgments. Sociologically speaking, this ideology or tendency is known as ethnocentrism.

Ethnocentrism is the idea that one’s own culture is above or superior to all others. It is also the belief that one's
own culture is the main or normal standard by which other cultures may be measured or understood.
Ethnocentrism is failing or refusing to see the world and its aspects in a wider or encompassing perspectives. It
may cause people to practice bias and intolerance.

Seeing the belief and behavior of others, which are different from yours, as brute, confusing, or dirty is an
ethnocentric thought or behavior. The tendency to be avoidant, doubting, or questioning towards members of
another culture is also a manifestation of ethnocentrism.

Cultural Relativism

Not all people are ethnocentric. There are those who use wider perspectives in associating their culture from
another’s. There are people who accept and respect the evident differences from members of the society. When
people recognize that each culture is naturally different from others, that is cultural relativism.

Cultural relativism does not mean that we should immediately accept and tolerate cultural differences. Instead, it
requires understanding the culture of other people in their own cultural context free from another’s biases.
Cultural relativism is the idea that all norms, beliefs, and values are dependent on their cultural context, and
should be treated as such. Introduced by Franz Boas in 1887, according to him,"...civilization is not something
absolute, but ... is relative, and ... our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes."

With cultural relativism, it is suggested that the way people live should be evaluated not based on your own
cultural context but on the social community the people themselves inhabit. Cultural relativism means respect
and tolerance.

In conducting their sociological studies, social scientists are recommended to practice or to show cultural
relativism. There should be no reservations and blind opinions while they are immersed in a community of their
subject. One may also practice this concept by learning and recognizing that there are reasons or cultural
significance why people of a certain community act and talk the way they do.

How Cultural Relativism Mitigates Ethnocentrism

It is believed that each person, in one way or another, possess an ethnocentric attitude or behavior. There is
nothing wrong with that because not all people are equipped with sufficient knowledge and exposure to cultures
across the globe, unlike social scientists or anthropologists. Thus the hardship in understanding and tolerating
other’s acts and values. But we also have to recognize that ethnocentric behavior if not controlled may cause
trouble to oneself, especially in this modern times when everyone calls for social or cultural inclusion.

Historically, colonialism was justified by ethnocentrism. When Europeans reached the areas populated by the
natives whom they consider savage and uncivilized, they saw the promise to civilize and tame the people they
conquered through religion (Christianity) and colonialism. Despite its advantages, we can say that the Age of
Exploration changed the course of world history in a way which deprived the conquered.

It is widely believed in the field of sociology that ethnocentric behavior may be mitigated through the recognition
and application of cultural relativism. A person can practice cultural relativism by recognizing that our culture
shapes what we consider to be beautiful, ugly, appealing, disgusting, virtuous, funny, and abhorrent and that
this should not be the basis for evaluating other culture. Cultural relativism shapes our understanding of different
issues in the society as to why certain religion believe in this and other not, or how come this group eat this type
of dish, wear this weird clothing, sing and dance along music while others prefer not to. What we need is an
open heart and unbiased and critical mind, exposure, education, and involvement in activities, programs
supporting and recognizing the uniqueness and beauty of every culture for us to truly grasp what cultural
relativism means.

Lesson 4: Cultural Forms and Threats

Cultural Heritage Legacy is what remains after one’s time. Handed down from one generation to another, legacy
magnifies one’s life and living. It is said that legacy is what cultural heritage is.

According to John Feather, cultural heritage is a human creation intended to inform.

 architectures such as buildings, houses, and structures

 artifacts like books, documents, objects, images, clothing, accessories, and jars
 things that made people who they are like oral stories, values, laws, norms, rituals, and traditions
Cultural heritage helps historians and archaeologists understand and decipher the way of living people of
yesterday had. Through these objects, we are presented with facts and figures which help us draw the
landscape of the world once was.

Tangible and Intangible Heritage

Cultural heritage is a representation of the ways of living established by society or group and passed on from
generation to generation. Cultural heritage can be categorized as either tangible or intangible.

Tangible Heritage

Tangible means perceptible, touchable, concrete, or physical. A tangible heritage is a physical artifact or objects
significant to the archaeology, architecture, science, or technology of a specific culture.

Objects that can be stored are included in this category:

 traditional clothing,  utensils (such as bead work, water vessels),

 vehicles (such as the ox wagon),
 documents (codes, laws, land titles, literature), and
 public works and architecture built and constructed by a cultural group (buildings, historical places,
monuments, temples, graves, roads, and bridges fall into this category as well).

Intangible Heritage

Intangible is the opposite of tangible. Unlike tangible heritage, an intangible heritage is not a physical or
concrete item. Intangible heritage is that which exists intellectually in the culture.

Intangible heritage includes:

 songs,
 myths,
 beliefs,
 superstitions,
 oral poetry,
 stories, and
 various forms of traditional knowledge such as ethnobotanical knowledge.

Threats to Tangible and Intangible Heritage

There was a time in contemporary history when museums were in constant search and hurry to look for
historical materials to display. Due to the ascent of demand for cultural materials, opportunists saw this as an
avenue for them to earn money. They invented materials and claim that these were excavated or unearthed and
once owned by a cultural group.

 Documents whose authenticity are yet to be determined include Hitler diaries, crystal skulls of
Mesoamerica (tangible), and the status/story of Saint Nicholas' companion Black Peter (intangible).
 Authenticity or truthfulness of origin, attributes, and intentions of cultural heritage are one of the issues
concerning sources of our culture.
 Aside from authenticity issues, preservation or the act of making a cultural heritage lasting and existing
is also a primary concern.

• John Locke, a British Enlightenment philosopher, said that the human mind at birth is nothing but a
blank slate, or tabula rasa.
Socialization and Enculturation
As a child grows, various experiences imprint knowledge on his or her mind. The human mind, for
Locke, acquires information about the outside world through the senses, and this information molds and
defines a person’s awareness and view of the outside world.
Locke definitely did not believe that the human mind has innate conceptions.
 Socialization
 Refers to the lifelong process of social interaction through which people acquire their identities and
necessary survival skills in society. It prepares new members of society and trains them to think, feel,
and act in appropriate ways.
 Considered the central process of social life.
 Also a process of member recruitment and replacement.
 Examples of socialization
 Child-rearing
 The orientation of a student to his or her new school
 An initiation to an organization
 Attendance in Sunday school
 Cathecism for Catholics
 Recruitment processes for political parties
 Acquainting an immigrant to significant aspects of life in his or her new country
The process of socialization enables a person to gradually become a self-aware and knowledgeable
human being, and learn the ways, values, rules and culture of his or her society.
Socialization is also important in politics, and a citizen develops and acquires political ideas, values,
attitudes, beliefs, and opinions though political socialization, a process which enables the development
of citizens to function effectively within a particular political system.
In the early years of American sociology, the process of socialization was equated with “civilization”. It
was assumed that an unruly human nature or fierce individualism existed prior to an individual’s
encounter with society.
Socialization was increasingly viewed in the context of internalization.
Internalization refers to the process of accepting the social norms, attitudes, roles, and values
transmitted by people and social groups within society as one’s own.
This is the view of functionalist like Talcott Parsons, who explains that if people failed to play their
expected roles and behaved “strangely”, there is incomplete or inadequate socialization.
 However, functionalists do not consider that socialization might vary from person to person, or that
individuals might have needs, desires, values, or behaviors different from those that society expects or
demands of them.
The sociologist William Wentworth has proposed a synthesized view of socialization which considers
how factors such as free will, human autonomy, and social structures and processes influence
socialization.
The synthesized view identities three significant aspects of socialization: Social context, content and
process, and results.
Social context refers to the particular circumstances of a society and consists of its culture, language,
and the social structures that define social class, ethnicity, and gender.
Also includes social and historical events, mechanisms of power and control, and institutions and
individuals that engage the person in the socialization process.
 Content refers to ideas, beliefs, behavior, and other information that are passed on by members of
society to the individual; the process refers to the methods of interaction that enable the content to be
given to the person undergoing socialization.
 Results refer to the outcomes of socialization, and are evident when individuals begin to practice the
behaviors, attitudes, and values that society considers necessary for them to function effectively as its
members.
A significant result of socialization is self-identity, which refers to the establishment of a unique sense of
identity and an awareness of how it relates to their society and the world.